Human herpes virus 8 (HHV-8) in Kaposi's sarcoma: lack of association with Bcl-2 and p53 protein expression.
OBJECTIVE
Human herpes virus 8 (HHV-8) is the infectious agent implicated in the pathogenesis of Kaposi's sarcoma, although its mode of action is unclear. Recent work indicates that the HHV-8 genome encodes a viral Bcl-2 homologue (v-Bcl-2). The aim of this study was to explore Bcl-2 expression in Kaposi's sarcoma using a unique set of HHV-8 positive and negative cases, and to determine whether there is a relation with p53 expression.


METHODS
Up to 18 specimens from 17 patients were selected. HHV-8 status was determined using nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to the open reading frame (ORF) 26, with further confirmation by TaqMan PCR. In addition, Bcl-2 and p53 immunohistochemistry were performed using standard protocols.


RESULTS
The results suggest that Bcl-2 and p53 expression is independent of HHV-8 status. In addition, there does not appear to be a direct correlation with disease stage.


CONCLUSIONS
HHV8 histopathogenesis is likely to be a multifactorial complex process, which may be mediated in part by viral genes and apoptosis regulating homologues.
Kennedy
M M
MM
Nuffield Department of Pathology and Bacteriology, University of Oxford, UK.
O'Leary
J J
JJ
Oates
J L
JL
Lucas
S B
SB
Howells
D D
DD
Picton
S
S
McGee
J O
JO
D005260:Female; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology*; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism*
D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53