Genomic analysis of xCT-mediated regulatory network: Identification of novel targets against AIDS-associated lymphoma.

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the etiological agent of primary effusion lymphoma (PEL), a rapidly progressing malignancy mostly arising in HIV-infected patients. Even under conventional chemotherapy, PEL continues to portend nearly 100% mortality within several months, which urgently requires novel therapeutic strategies. We have previously demonstrated that targeting xCT, an amino acid transporter for cystine/glutamate exchange, induces significant PEL cell apoptosis through regulation of multiple host and viral factors.

xCT, not just an amino-acid transporter: a multi-functional regulator of microbial infection and associated diseases.

Expression of xCT, a component of the xc (-) amino-acid transporter, is essential for the uptake of cystine required for intracellular glutathione (GSH) synthesis and maintenance of the intracellular redox balance. Therefore, xCT plays an important role not only in the survival of somatic and immune cells, but also in other aspects of tumorigenesis, including the growth and malignant progression of cancer cells, resistance to anticancer drugs, and protection of normal cells against oxidative damage induced by carcinogens. xCT also functions as a factor required for infection by Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), the causative agent of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and other lymphoproliferative diseases associated with HIV/AIDS.

Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Subversion of the Anti-Inflammatory Response in Human Skin Cells Reveals Correlates of Latency and Disease Pathogenesis.

KSHV is the etiologic agent for Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), a neoplasm that manifests most aggressively as multifocal lesions on parts of human skin with a propensity for inflammatory reactivity. However, mechanisms that control evolution of KS from a benign hyperplasia to the histologically complex cutaneous lesion remain unknown. In this study, we found that KSHV induces proteomic and morphological changes in melanocytes and melanoma-derived cell lines, accompanied by deregulation of the endogenous anti-inflammatory responses anchored by the MC1-R/ α -MSH signaling axis.

Erratum: Dangerous liaisons: molecular basis for a syndemic relationship between Kaposi's sarcoma and malaria.

[This corrects the article on p. 35 in vol. 4, PMID: 23487416.

Oncogenic herpesvirus HHV-8 promotes androgen-independent prostate cancer growth.

Mechanisms underlying progression to androgen-independent prostate cancer following radical ablation therapy remain poorly defined. Although intraprostatic infections have been highlighted as potential cofactors, pathogen influences on pathways that support tumor regrowth are not known. To explore this provocative concept, we derived androgen-sensitive and -insensitive prostate epithelial cells persistently infected with human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), an oncogenic herpesvirus that has been detected in normal prostate epithelium, prostate adenocarcinoma, and biologic fluids of patients with prostate cancer, to explore its effects on transition to hormone-refractory disease.