Infected LECs and BECs converge toward a common phenotype.

Boshoff/Macmillan

Does the Kaposi sarcoma (KS) herpesvirus (KSHV) replicate in lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) or blood vascular endothelial cells (BECs)? Two groups have come up with a surprising answer to this question: neither. Instead the oncogenic virus modifies both of the two cell types to an intermediate state that better suits the virus' replicative needs.

KS has always been known as a tumor of the endothelial system based on the reddish, bruised appearance of KS lesions. A handful of lymphatic markers are found on KSHV-infected cells, but two new studies by Hsei-Wei Wang, Chris Boshoff (University College London, UK), and colleagues and Young-Kwon Hong, Michael Detmar (Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA), and colleagues present the first comprehensive view of what these cells express.

The Boston group finds that BECs infected with KSHV induce ∼70% of known...

The Rockefeller University Press
2004
The Rockefeller University Press
2004
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