Human herpesvirus 8-encoded vGPCR activates nuclear factor of activated T cells and collaborates with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Tat.
Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), the etiologic agent of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), encodes a chemokine receptor homologue, the viral G protein-coupled receptor (vGPCR), that has been implicated in KS pathogenesis. Expression of vGPCR constitutively activates several signaling pathways, including NF-kappa B, and induces the expression of proinflammatory and angiogenic factors, consistent with the inflammatory hyperproliferative nature of KS lesions. Here we show that vGPCR also constitutively activates the nuclear factor of activated T cells (NF-AT), another transcription factor important in regulation of the expression of inflammatory cytokines and related factors. NF-AT activation by vGPCR depended upon signaling through the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt-glycogen synthetase kinase 3 (PI3-K/Akt/GSK-3) pathway and resulted in increased expression of NF-AT-dependent cell surface molecules (CD25, CD29, Fas ligand), proinflammatory cytokines (interleukin-2 [IL-2], IL-4), and proangiogenic factors (granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor GMCSF and TNF alpha). vGPCR expression also increased endothelial cell-T-cell adhesion. Although infection with HHV-8 is necessary to cause KS, coinfection with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), in the absence of antiretroviral suppressive therapy, increases the risk of KS by many orders of magnitude. NF-AT and NF-kappa B activation by vGPCR was greatly increased by the HIV-1 Tat protein, although Tat alone had little effect on NF-AT. The enhancement of NF-AT by Tat appears to be mediated through collaborative stimulation of the PI3-K/Akt/GSK-3 pathway by vGPCR and Tat. Our data further support the idea that vGPCR contributes to the pathogenesis of KS by a paracrine mechanism and, in addition, provide the first evidence of collaboration between an HIV-1 protein and an HHV-8 protein.
Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA.
Shibani
S
Pati
James S
JS
Foulke
Oxana
O
Barabitskaya
Jynho
J
Kim
B C
BC
Nair
David
D
Hone
Jennifer
J
Smart
Ricardo A
RA
Feldman
Marvin
M
Reitz
D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002460:Cell Line; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000166:cytology; D015696:Gene Products, tat / Q000378:metabolism*; D038362:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006801:Humans; D050778:NFATC Transcription Factors; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D019707:Receptors, Chemokine / Q000378:metabolism*; D012867:Skin / Q000098:blood supply; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D015533:Transcriptional Activation
D016207:Cytokines; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D015696:Gene Products, tat; D038362:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3; D050778:NFATC Transcription Factors; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D019707:Receptors, Chemokine; D014157:Transcription Factors; C115448:G protein-coupled receptor, Human herpesvirus 8; C494918:AKT1 protein, human