Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Vaccines
Creative Biolabs is a world leader in the field of viral vaccine development. With our extensive experience and advanced platform, we are therefore confident in offering the best vaccine development services for Kaposi’s Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus. We guarantee the finest results for our customers all over the world.
Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus (KSHV) is the eighth Human Herpesvirus (HHV-8). This virus causes Kaposi's sarcoma, a cancer commonly occurring in AIDS patients, as well as primary effusion lymphoma, some types of multicentric Castleman's disease and KSHV inflammatory cytokine syndrome. It is one of seven currently known human cancer viruses, or oncoviruses.
Fig.1 Illustration of the Kaposi’s Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus and its structural elements.
Epidemiology for Kaposi’s Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Infection
KSHV can be efficiently transmitted in childhood. In these situations, young children are more likely to be infected if their mothers or siblings are infected, suggesting mother–child, or sibling–sibling transmission as a possible source of infection. However, an epidemiological study among Egyptian children found that close contact with at least two other children in the community was a risk factor for KSHV infection. Given the excretion of KSHV in saliva, it is conceivable that saliva plays a role in transmitting KSHV from mother to child, sibling to sibling, or from other contact children. In heterosexual adults of non-endemic countries, transmission during sexual contacts appears to represent one important route of infection. Among body fluids that could transfer KSHV during sexual contacts, the highest copy numbers of KSHV DNA, as detected by PCR, are found in saliva.
Host Response to Kaposi’s Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Infection
KSHV-associated disorders express high levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor, kinase insert domain-containing receptor (KDR), which induces angiogenesis. In KS lesions, VEGF and other angiogenic factors stimulate the inflammatory and neovascular responses determining spindle cell proliferation, the predominant cell type within these lesions. There is considerable evidence for a role of vIL-6 in the proliferation of infected B cells. Like its cellular counterpart, hIL-6, known to be important in B cell proliferation, vIL-6 is able to support the growth of IL-6-dependent B cells in vitro. Orf74 of KSHV has early lytic kinetics and encodes a G protein-coupled receptor (vGCR). KSHV and HVS vGCRs are homologues of the human IL-8 receptor. In contrast to its human homologue, KSHV vGCR shows ligand-independent, constitutive activity due to the presence of a point mutation in a sequence motif (DRY) that is highly conserved among GCRs. Three chemokine homologues, vMIP-I-III, encoded by KSHV orfK6, orf4 and orf4.1, respectively, have been proposed to be important in promoting leukocyte chemotaxis, eosinophil migration and angiogenesis. They are members of the macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP) family, hence their name. Among them, vMIP-I has been reported to induce the expression of VEGF in PEL cell lines, in a similar way to vIL-6.
The Development of KSHV Vaccine
KSHV vaccine development is needed, and that both preventative and therapeutic KSHV vaccines would be of benefit. KSHV transmission among infants is similar to that of all other herpesviruses; by puberty, greater than 80% of children seroconvert in KSHV endemic regions. By contrast, transmission among adults in many parts of the world (excluding Africa and the Mediterranean) is so poor that repeated contact or immunodeficiency, as in high-risk populations, is needed to sustain the virus at a greater than 5% population-wide prevalence. This suggests that only a fraction of exposures leads to establishment of latency and eventual disease. Systemically circulating and salivary levels of KSHV in asymptomatic persons are orders of magnitude lower than those of EBV, herpes simplex virus, or human CMV (13, 14, 200). Evidence of KSHV superinfection in immune-competent persons is limited. A little priming of the immune system by a vaccine prior to establishment of latency may be all that is needed to eradicate KSHV and KS-associated diseases from the human population.
Creative Biolabs is pleased to share our cutting-edge technology and extensive expertise in the field of Kaposi’s Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus vaccine development and has focused on the viral vaccines for years. We can offer high-quality customized services by adjusting protocols to meet even the most specific requirements. If you are interested in our services, please contact us for more details.
Reference
- Moore P S. (2009). “Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus”. In Clinical Virology, Third Edition (pp. 537-558). American Society of Microbiology.
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