title: Injection of human herpesvirus-8 in human skin engrafted on SCID mice induces Kaposi's sarcoma-like lesions.
abstract: Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) or human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) has been implicated in the development of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and several B-cell lymphoproliferative diseases. Serologic and molecular genetic association data has implicated HHV-8 as the causal agent of KS, but its role in the development of KS lesions is not understood. To examine the etiology of KS, HHV-8 was injected into normal human skin transplanted onto SCID mice. Injection of HHV-8 induced lesion formation that is morphologically and phenotypically consistent with KS, including the presence of angiogenesis and spindle-shaped cells latently infected with HHV-8. These findings suggest that HHV-8 is indeed the etiologic agent of KS, and that the virus plays an important role in initiation of this disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Skin Cancer Research Laboratories, Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola University Medical Center, Room 301, 2160 South First Avenue, Maywood, IL 60153-5385, USA.
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Foreman
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Friborg
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chandran
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Katano
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sata
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mercader
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Nabel
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Nickoloff
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D007267:Injections; D051379:Mice; D016513:Mice, SCID; D010641:Phenotype; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D012867:Skin / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology*; D016038:Skin Transplantation; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured