Distinct roles of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus-encoded viral interferon regulatory factors in inflammatory response and cancer
Baresova, P.; Pitha, P.M.; Lubyova, B.
Journal of Virology 87(17): 9398-9410
2013
ISSN/ISBN: 1098-5514 PMID: 23785197 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.03315-12
Accession: 052664163
Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the etiologic agent associated with Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), primary effusion lymphoma (PEL), and multicentric Castleman disease (MCD). Similar to other herpesviruses, KSHV has two life cycles, latency and lytic replication. In latency, the KSHV genome persists as a circular episome in the nucleus of the host cell and only a few viral genes are expressed. In this review, we focus on oncogenic, antiapoptotic, and immunomodulating properties of KSHV-encoded homologues of cellular interferon regulatory factors (IRFs)--viral IRF1 (vIRF1) to vIRF4--and their possible role in the KSHV-mediated antiviral response, apoptosis, and oncogenicity.