The immunogenic glycoprotein gp35-37 of human herpesvirus 8 is encoded by open reading frame K8.1.
Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) is likely to be involved in the pathogenesis of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and body cavity-based lymphomas (BCBLs). The HHV-8 genome is primarily in a latent state in BCBL-derived cell lines like BCBL-1, but lytic replication can be induced by phorbol esters (R. Renne, W. Zhang, B. Herndier, M. McGrath, N. Abbey, D. Kedes, and D. E. Ganem, Nat. Med. 2:342-346, 1996). A 35- to 37-kDa glycoprotein (gp35-37) is the polypeptide most frequently and intensively recognized by KS patient sera on Western blots with induced BCBL-1 cells. Its apparent molecular mass is reduced to 30 kDa by digestion with peptide-N-glycosidase F. By searching the known HHV-8 genomic sequence for open reading frames (ORF) with the potential to encode such a glycoprotein, an additional, HHV-8-specific reading frame was identified adjacently to ORF K8. This ORF, termed K8.1, was found to be transcribed primarily into a spliced mRNA encoding a glycoprotein of 228 amino acids. Recombinant K8.1 was regularly recognized by KS patient sera in Western blots, and immunoaffinity-purified antibodies to recombinant K8.1 reacted with gp35-37. This shows that the immunogenic gp35-37 is encoded by HHV-8 reading frame K8.1, which will be a useful tool for studies of HHV-8 epidemiology and pathogenesis.
Raab
M S
MS
Institut für Klinische und Molekulare Virologie, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, D-91054 Erlangen, Germany.
Albrecht
J C
JC
Birkmann
A
A
Yağuboğlu
S
S
Lang
D
D
Fleckenstein
B
B
Neipel
F
F
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D001483:Base Sequence; D002461:Cell Line, Transformed; D004279:DNA, Viral; D005091:Exons; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D012326:RNA Splicing; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012367:RNA, Viral; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral; D006023:Glycoproteins; C113454:K8.1 protein, Human herpesvirus 8; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012367:RNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins