Journal of Virology, July 1999, p. 6136-6140, Vol. 73, No. 7
0022-538X/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Identification of Human Herpesvirus 8-Specific
Cytotoxic T-Cell Responses
Mohamed
Osman,1,2
Toru
Kubo,2
Jasjit
Gill,3
Frank
Neipel,4
Marion
Becker,5
Geoffrey
Smith,5
Robin
Weiss,1
Brian
Gazzard,3
Chris
Boshoff,1,* and
Frances
Gotch2,*
Institut für Klinische und Molekulare
Virologie, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, D-91054 Erlangen,
Germany,4 and Department of
Genitourinary Medicine3 and Department
of Immunology,2 Chelsea and Westminster
Hospital, Imperial College School of Medicine, and
Departments of Oncology and Molecular Pathology, Royal Free
and University College Medical School, University College
London,1 London, and Dunn School of
Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford,5 United
Kingdom
Received 28 January 1999/Accepted 26 March 1999
 |
ABSTRACT |
Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) (or Kaposi's sarcoma-associated
herpesvirus) is implicated in the etiopathogenesis of Kaposi's sarcoma
(KS) and certain lymphoproliferations. The introduction of more
effective therapies to treat human immunodeficiency virus infection has
led to a decline in the incidence of KS and also in the resolution of
KS in those already affected. This suggests that cellular immune
responses including cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) could play a vital
role in the control of HHV-8 infection and in KS pathogenesis. Here we
elucidate HLA class I-restricted, HHV-8-specific cellular immune
responses that could be important in the control of HHV-8 infection and
subsequent tumor development. We show the presence of CTLs against
HHV-8 latent (K12), lytic (K8.1), and highly variable (K1) proteins in
infected individuals.
 |
TEXT |
The interface between infection,
immunity, and malignancy is highlighted by cancers prevalent in
patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and in organ
transplant recipients. Immunosuppressed individuals are prone to tumors
caused by the gamma herpesviruses Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in lymphomas
(25) and human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8; also called Kaposi's
sarcoma-associated herpesvirus) in Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and certain
lymphoproliferations (2, 7, 11).
HHV-8 is the most recently identified oncogenic virus and is causally
linked to KS (6, 10), the most common tumor in HIV-infected individuals, and also to primary effusion lymphoma and
the immunoblastic variant of Castleman's disease (4, 8, 29). The introduction of aggressive anti-HIV therapies has led to
a decline in the incidence of KS in AIDS patients and also in the
resolution of KS in those already affected (16). This suggests that cellular immune responses, compromised in AIDS but recovering after highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), could be important in the control of HHV-8 infection and in the development of KS.
The immune system is capable of mounting potent attacks on invading
viruses and of eliminating some viral infections. Virus-specific, HLA-restricted cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses are critical to
clear early viremia in acute HIV infection, are important in the
control of opportunistic viral infections such as cytomegalovirus or
herpes zoster reactivation, and play an important role in the control
of human papillomavirus-induced squamous cell carcinomas and in
EBV-induced lymphoproliferation.
We postulate that HHV-8 establishes a persistent infection, which
is normally controlled by the immune system, and that the number of
HHV-8-infected cells is under immunological control. When
this immune control declines due to acquired or iatrogenic immunosuppression, the number of HHV-8-infected cells increases with the subsequent unchecked proliferation of virally infected cells
and the development of HHV-8-related tumors. The human gamma herpesviruses EBV and HHV-8 establish latent infections in lymphoid cells, where the viral episomes express only a limited number of genes
(the so-called latent genes), and this means that only a limited
number of peptides may be recognized in association with HLA class I
molecules by CTLs. In EBV infection, virus-specific CTL
activity directed against peptides from latent and lytic
proteins is important in the pathogenesis of
EBV-associated diseases (26).
To investigate the existence of CTLs against HHV-8, we selected the
products of three HHV-8 open reading frames: K1, K8.1, and K12.
None of these have sequence similarity to EBV proteins, thereby
excluding the possibility of cross-reactivity with EBV-specific CTLs.
K1 is at the left-hand side end of the HHV-8 genome, in a position
equivalent to the gene encoding the herpesvirus saimiri transforming
protein (STP), but K1 has no sequence or structural similarity to STP.
K1 is oncogenic when overexpressed in rodent fibroblasts
(19); however, it is not yet clear whether this protein is
expressed in latency in mesenchymal cells (e.g., KS spindle or tumor
cells). In effusion lymphoma cells K1 expression is restricted to the
lytic cycle (18). K1 is highly variable among HHV-8
isolates (22) and is therefore presumed to be under significant biological pressure, suggesting that this protein may be
important in HHV-8 pathogenesis.
K8.1 is a 228-amino-acid viral glycoprotein expressed during lytic
viral replication (20, 24). K8.1 is highly immunogenic and
therefore useful to measure humoral immunity against HHV-8 (24). K8.1 has no overt amino acid sequence similarity with any viral or cellular sequence currently available in databases (24). K8.1 localizes on the surfaces of cells and virions
(20). The open reading frame in EBV that shares genomic
position and orientation with K8.1 encodes gp350/220, which is known to
bind to CR2 (CD21) on host cells (32). This suggests that
K8.1 might also be involved in cell attachment (20).
gp350/220 of EBV evokes powerful cellular immune responses and is
indeed being investigated as an EBV vaccine (9, 25).
K12 encodes a unique viral protein expressed during latent infection
(35). K12 is expressed in nearly all KS spindle cells and
also in latently infected primary effusion lymphoma cells (30). K12 is transforming in vitro (21), and it
may therefore play a role in HHV-8-induced cellular proliferation.
Study participants.
Study participants were selected from
HIV-positive and -negative individuals attending the Genitourinary
Clinic at the Kobler Centre, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London,
United Kingdom. Control donors were laboratory workers who were at a
low risk of HHV-8 infection. The study was approved by the ethical
committee of the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Trust.
HLA typing.
DNA was extracted from 200 µl of EDTA-peripheral
blood, by using a QIAamp blood kit (Qiagen, Crawley, United Kingdom).
HLA class I typing was performed by amplification of refractory
mutation system PCR with sequence-specific primers (17). PCR
was performed in 96-well PCR plates with 5 to 20 µg of DNA, 5 µl of
allele sequence-specific primers (Oxford Transplant Centre, Oxford,
United Kingdom), deoxynucleoside triphosphates, and Taq DNA
polymerase. Products were visualized in a 1% agarose gel with ethidium bromide.
HHV-8 serological assay.
HHV-8 antibodies were
detected by using an indirect immunofluorescence serological assay as
described previously (12, 34). To determine anti-HHV-8
antibody titers, sera were diluted in 3% fetal calf serum in
phosphate-buffered saline. Twofold dilutions were made starting at a
concentration of 1:100.
Construction of recombinant modified vaccine Ankara (MVA)
expressing K1, K8.1, and K12.
Total cellular DNA was extracted
from the primary effusion lymphoma cell line BCP-1, which carries
HHV-8 but not EBV (1, 12). The K1 open reading
frame was amplified from BCP-1 DNA by PCR with the forward primer
5'-GGACGCGGCCGCGTCTTTCAGACCTTGTTGGAC-3' and the
reverse primer
5'-AATCCAGCGGCCGCGAATGTCAGTACCAATCCAC-3'. The K1 PCR product was digested with NotI
restriction endonucleases (NotI restriction sites are
underlined), the staggered ends were filled in with the Klenow fragment
of DNA polymerase, and the blunt-ended fragments were inserted into the
SmaI site of pSC11 (5).
The K12 open reading frame was amplified from BCP-1 DNA by PCR with the
forward primer
5'-GCATGCGGCCGCATGGATAGAGGCTTAACGG-3' and
the reverse primer
5'-CGTAGCGGCCGCTAGCTTCAGTGCGCGC-3'. The K12 PCR
product was digested with NotI restriction endonucleases (NotI restriction site is underlined) and inserted into a
novel NotI site of pCS11. This NotI site in the
pSC11 plasmid was created by ligating a synthetic oligonucleotide
linker containing it to the SmaI-digested pSC11. The new
version of the plasmid was called pSC11N.
The K8.1 open reading frame was excised from plasmid pCDNA-K8.1
(24) with BamHI and XbaI restriction
endonucleases, the staggered ends were filled in with the Klenow
fragment of DNA polymerase, and the NotI linker was ligated.
The resulting K8.1-NotI was digested with NotI
and inserted into the NotI site of pSC11N.
BHK21 cells were infected with MVA at 0.05 PFU per cell. pSC11 or
pSC11N plasmids carrying K1, K8.1, or K12 genes were transfectedThis work was supported by the U.K. Medical Research Council and
The Cancer Research Campaign. Chris Boshoff is a Glaxo Wellcome Prize Fellow.
We thank Dimitra Bourboulia for providing the figures and Nesrina Imami
for technical help.
| 1.
|
Boshoff, C.,
S.-J. Gao,
L. E. Healy,
S. Matthews,
A. J. Thomas,
L. Coignet,
R. A. Warnke,
J. A. Strauchen,
E. Matutes,
O. W. Kamel,
P. S. Moore,
R. A. Weiss, and Y. Chang.
1998.
Establishment of a KSHV positive cell line (BCP-1) from peripheral blood and characterizing its growth in vivo.
Blood
91:1671-1679[Abstract/Free Full Text].
|
| 2.
|
Boshoff, C., and R. A. Weiss.
1998.
Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, p. 57-86.
In
G. Vande Woude, and G. Klein (ed.), Advances in cancer research, vol. 75. Academic Press, San Diego, Calif.
|
| 3.
|
Carroll, M., and B. Moss.
1997.
Host range and cytopathogenicity of the highly attenuated MVA strain of vaccinia virus: propagation and generation of recombinant viruses in non-human mammalian cell line.
Virology
238:198-211[Medline].
|
| 4.
|
Cesarman, E., and D. Knowles.
1999.
Lymphoproliferations associated with KSHV, p. 165-174.
In
C. Boshoff, and R. A. Weiss (ed.), Seminars in cancer biology, vol. 9. Academic Press, London, England.
|
| 5.
|
Chakrabarti, S.,
K. Brechling, and B. Moss.
1985.
Vaccinia virus expression vector: coexpression of -galactosidase provides visual screening of recombinant virus plaques.
Mol. Cell. Biol.
5:3403-3409[Abstract/Free Full Text].
|
| 6.
|
Chang, Y.,
E. Cesarman,
M. S. Pessin,
F. Lee,
J. Culpepper,
D. M. Knowles, and P. S. Moore.
1994.
Identification of herpesvirus-like DNA sequences in AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma.
Science
266:1865-1869[Abstract/Free Full Text].
|
| 7.
|
Chang, Y., and P. S. Moore.
1996.
Kaposi's sarcoma (KS)-associated herpesvirus and its role in KS.
Infect. Agents Dis.
5:215-222[Medline].
|
| 8.
|
Dupin, N.,
C. Fisher,
P. Kellam,
S. Ariad,
M. Tulliez,
N. Franck,
E. Van Marck,
D. Salmon,
I. Gorin,
J.-P. Escande,
R. A. Weiss,
K. Alitalo, and C. Boshoff.
1999.
Distribution of HHV-8 positive cells in Kaposi's sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma and multicentric Castleman's disease.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
96:4546-4551[Abstract/Free Full Text].
|
| 9.
|
Epstein, M. A.
1986.
Vaccination against Epstein-Barr virus: current progress and future strategies.
Lancet
i:1425-1427.
|
| 10.
|
Gallo, R. C.
1998.
The enigmas of Kaposi's sarcoma.
Science
282:1837-1839[Free Full Text].
|
| 11.
|
Ganem, D.
1997.
KSHV and Kaposi's sarcoma: the end of the beginning.
Cell
91:157-160[Medline].
|
| 12.
|
Gao, S. J.,
L. Kingsley,
M. Li,
W. Zheng,
C. Parravicini,
J. Ziegler,
R. Newton,
C. R. Rinaldo,
A. Saah,
J. Phair,
R. Detels,
Y. Chang, and P. S. Moore.
1996.
KSHV antibodies among Americans, Italians and Ugandans with and without Kaposi's sarcoma.
Nat. Med.
2:925-928[Medline].
|
| 13.
|
Gotch, F., and K. Broliden.
1995.
HIV-1 specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes and ADCC responses, p. 253-271.
In
J. Karn (ed.), HIV: virology and immunology, a practical approach, vol. 1. IRL, Oxford, England.
|
| 14.
|
Haas, G.,
A. Samri,
E. Gomard,
A. Hosmalin,
J. Duntze,
J. Bouley,
H. Ihlenfelds,
C. Katlama, and B. Autran.
1998.
Cytotoxic T-cells to HIV-1 reverse transcriptase, integrase and protease.
AIDS
12:1427-1436[Medline].
|
| 15.
|
Hayward, G. S.
1999.
KSHV strains: the origins and global spread of the virus, p. 187-199.
In
C. Boshoff, and R. A. Weiss (ed.), Seminars in cancer biology, vol. 9. Academic Press, London, England.
|
| 16.
| Jacobson, L. P., T. E. Yamashita, R. Detels,
J. B. Margolick, J. S. Chmiel, L. A. Kingsley, S. Melnick, and A. Munoz. Impact of potent anti-retroviral therapy on
the incidence of Kaposi's sarcoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas among
HIV-1 infected individuals. J. Acquired Immune Defic. Syndr.
Retrovirol., in press.
|
| 17.
|
Krausa, P.,
J. Bodmer, and M. Browning.
1993.
Defining the common subtypes of HLA A9, A10, A28 and A19 by use of ARMS/PCR.
Tissue Antigens
42:91-99[Medline].
|
| 18.
|
Lagunoff, D., and D. Ganem.
1997.
The structure and coding organization of the genomic termini of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (human herpesvirus-8).
Virology
236:147-154[Medline].
|
| 19.
|
Lee, H.,
R. Veazey,
K. Williams,
M. Li,
J. Guo,
F. Neipel,
B. Fleckenstein,
A. Lackner,
R. C. Desrosiers, and J. U. Jung.
1998.
Deregulation of cell growth by the K1 gene of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus.
Nat. Med.
4:435-440[Medline].
|
| 20.
|
Li, M.,
J. MacKey,
S. C. Czajak,
R. C. Desrosiers,
A. A. Lackner, and J. U. Jung.
1999.
Identification and characterization of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus K8.1 virion glycoprotein.
J. Virol.
73:1341-1349[Abstract/Free Full Text].
|
| 21.
|
Muralidhar, S.,
A. M. Pumfery,
M. Hassani,
M. R. Sadaie,
N. Azumi,
M. Kishishita,
J. N. Brady,
J. Doniger,
P. Medveczky, and L. J. Rosenthal.
1998.
Identification of kaposin (open reading frame K12) as a human herpesvirus 8 (Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus) transforming gene.
J. Virol.
72:4980-4988[Abstract/Free Full Text].
|
| 22.
|
Nicholas, J.,
Z. Jian-Chao,
D. J. Alcendor,
D. M. Ciufo,
L. J. Poole,
R. T. Sarisky,
C.-J. Chiou,
X. Zhang,
X. Wan,
H.-G. Guo,
M. S. Reirz, and G. S. Hayward.
1998.
Novel organization features, captured cellular genes, and strain variability within the genome of KSHV/HHV-8.
J. Natl. Cancer Inst.
23:79-88.
|
| 23.
|
Pepperl, S.,
G. Benninger-Döring,
S. Modrow,
H. Wolf, and W. Jilg.
1998.
Immediate-early transactivator Rta of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) shows multiple epitopes recognized by EBV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes.
J. Virol.
72:8644-8649[Abstract/Free Full Text].
|
| 24.
|
Raab, M.-S.,
J.-C. Albrecht,
A. Birkmann,
S. Ya ubo lu,
D. Lang,
B. Fleckenstein, and F. Neipel.
1998.
The immunogenic glycoprotein gp35-37 of human herpesvirus 8 is encoded by open reading frame K8.1.
J. Virol.
72:6725-6731[Abstract/Free Full Text].
|
| 25.
|
Rickinson, A. B., and E. Kieff.
1996.
Epstein-Barr virus, p. 2397-2447.
In
B. N. Fields, D. M. Knipe, and P. M. Howley (ed.), Fields virology, 3rd ed, vol. 2. Lippincott-Raven Publishers, Philadelphia, Pa.
|
| 26.
|
Rickinson, A. B., and D. J. Moss.
1997.
Human cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses to Epstein-Barr virus infection.
Annu. Rev. Immunol.
15:405-431[Medline].
|
| 27.
|
Rooney, C. M.,
C. A. Smith,
C. Y. Ng,
S. Loftin,
C. Li,
R. A. Krance,
M. K. Brenner, and H. E. Heslop.
1995.
Use of gene-modified virus-specific T lymphocytes to control Epstein-Barr virus-related lymphoproliferation.
Lancet
345:9-13[Medline].
|
| 28.
| Sitas, F., H. Carrara, V. Beral, R. Newton, G. Reeves,
D. Bull, M. Retter, B. Fine, R. Pacella-Norman, D. Bourboulia, D. Whitby, C. Boshoff, and R. Weiss. The seroepidemiology of
HHV-8/KSHV in a large population of black cancer patients in
Johannesburg. N. Engl. J. Med., in press.
|
| 29.
|
Soulier, J.,
L. Grollet,
E. Oksenhendler,
P. Cacoub,
D. Cazals Hatem,
P. Babinet,
M. F. d'Agay,
J. P. Clauvel,
M. Raphael, and L. Degos.
1995.
Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus-like DNA sequences in multicentric Castleman's disease.
Blood
86:1276-1280[Abstract/Free Full Text].
|
| 30.
|
Staskus, K. A.,
W. Zhong,
K. Gebhard,
B. Herndier,
H. Wang,
R. Renne,
J. Beneke,
J. Pudney,
D. J. Anderson,
D. Ganem, and A. T. Haase.
1997.
Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus gene expression in endothelial (spindle) tumor cells.
J. Virol.
71:715-719[Abstract].
|
| 31.
|
Steven, N. M.,
N. E. Annels,
A. Kumar,
A. M. Leese,
M. G. Kurilla, and A. B. Rickinson.
1997.
Immediate early and early lytic cycle proteins are frequent targets of the Epstein-Barr virus-induced cytotoxic T cell response.
J. Exp. Med.
185:1605-1617[Abstract/Free Full Text].
|
| 32.
|
Tanner, J.,
J. Weis,
D. Fearon,
Y. Whang, and E. Keiff.
1987.
Epstein-Barr virus gp350/220 binding to the B lymphocyte C3d receptor mediates adsorption, capping, and endocytosis.
Cell
50:203-213[Medline].
|
| 33.
|
Whitby, D.,
M. R. Howard,
M. Tenant Flowers,
N. S. Brink,
A. Copas,
C. Boshoff,
T. Hatzioannou,
F. E. Suggett,
D. M. Aldam,
A. S. Denton,
R. F. Miller,
I. V. D. Weller,
R. A. Weiss,
R. S. Tedder, and T. F. Schulz.
1995.
Detection of Kaposi sarcoma associated herpesvirus in peripheral blood of HIV-infected individuals and progression to Kaposi's sarcoma.
Lancet
346:799-802[Medline].
|
| 34.
|
Whitby, D.,
M. Luppi,
P. Barozzi,
C. Boshoff,
R. A. Weiss, and G. Torelli.
1998.
HHV-8 seroprevalence in blood donors and lymphoma patients from different regions of Italy.
J. Natl. Cancer Inst.
90:395-397[Free Full Text].
|
| 35.
|
Zhong, W.,
H. Wang,
B. Herndier, and D. Ganem.
1996.
Restricted expression of Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (human herpesvirus 8) genes in Kaposi sarcoma.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
93:6641-6646[Abstract/Free Full Text].
|