Study identifies trigger for alternate reproduction of HIV-
related cancer virusApril 17th, 2012 in Cancer A research team
led by Children's National Medical Center has identified a
trigger that causes latent Kaposi's sarcoma-associated
herpesvirus (KSHV) to rapidly replicate itself. KSHV causes
Kaposi's sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma, and other cancers
that commonly affect immunocompromised patients, including those
with AIDS. Appearing in the online edition of the Journal of
Virology, the study identifies apoptosis, or the programmed
death of a virus' host cell, as the trigger for high-level viral
replication. "Finding that the programmed death of a host cell
triggered rapid production of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated
herpesvirus, means that KSHV has the ability to sense and
respond to critical changes in the cells that it grows in,
something we didn't know before," stated lead author Alka
Prasad, PhD, who is a member of the Center for Cancer and
Immunology Research at Children's National Medical Center. "