Junior Research Group Herpesviruses, Infection Biology Unit, German Primate Center - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research , Göttingen, Germany.
Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR3569, Unité de Virologie Structurale , Paris, France.
J Virol. 2023 Oct 31;97(10):e0083223. doi: 10.1128/jvi.00832-23. Epub 2023 Oct 5.
Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the causative agent of several B cell malignancies and Kaposi's sarcoma. We analyzed the function of K8.1, the major antigenic component of the KSHV virion in the infection of different cells. To do this, we deleted K8.1 from the viral genome. It was found that K8.1 is critical for the infection of certain epithelial cells, e.g., a skin model cell line but not for infection of many other cells. K8.1 was found to mediate attachment of the virus to cells where it plays a role in infection. In contrast, we did not find K8.1 or a related protein from a closely related monkey virus to activate fusion of the viral and cellular membranes, at least not under the conditions tested. These findings suggest that K8.1 functions in a highly cell-specific manner during KSHV entry, playing a crucial role in the attachment of KSHV to, e.g., skin epithelial cells.
卡波西肉瘤相关疱疹病毒（KSHV）是几种 B 细胞恶性肿瘤和卡波西肉瘤的致病因子。我们分析了 KSHV 病毒粒子的主要抗原成分 K8.1 在不同细胞感染中的功能。为此，我们从病毒基因组中删除了 K8.1。结果发现，K8.1 对于某些上皮细胞（例如皮肤模型细胞系）的感染至关重要，但对于许多其他细胞的感染则不重要。发现 K8.1 介导病毒与细胞的附着，在感染中发挥作用。相比之下，我们在受测条件下，没有发现 K8.1 或来自密切相关的猴病毒的相关蛋白能激活病毒和细胞膜的融合。这些发现表明，K8.1 在 KSHV 进入过程中以高度细胞特异性的方式发挥作用，在 KSHV 与例如皮肤上皮细胞的附着中发挥关键作用。
