Survival of the infected | Nature Reviews Cancer

Access through your institution Buy or subscribe The authors generated KSHV-infected human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and found that KSHV infection activates the PI3K–Akt–mTOR

pathway and inactivates a negative regulator of mTOR called AMPK. As this pathway is associated with cell survival, they examined the effect of KSHV on HUVEC apoptosis. KSHV-infected cells

were resistant to apoptosis induced by starvation, etoposide and staurosporine, suggesting that KSHV infection aids cell survival. To gain insight into how KSHV might influence endothelial

cell angiogenesis, the ability of infected HUVECs to form tubular structures was assessed _in vitro_. KSHV-infected HUVECs showed increased cell survival and tubule maintenance in medium

deprived of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), an important factor in endothelial cell proliferation and angiogenesis. This finding supports studies suggesting that KSHV viral

proteins continuously upregulate VEGF production and secretion in KSHV-infected endothelial cells, thereby leaving the infected cells resistant to exogenous depletion of VEGF. The ability of

KSHV-infected HUVECs to form tubules was also increased by conditioned media from KSHV-positive B-cell lymphoma cells, further implying that KSHV-infected tumour cells secrete

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PAPER * Wang, L. et al. Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus confers a survival advantage to endothelial cells. _Cancer Res._ 68, 4640–4648 (2008) Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references Authors * Katharine H. Wrighton View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT

THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Wrighton, K. Survival of the infected. _Nat Rev Cancer_ 8, 569 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc2452 Download citation * Published: 17 July 2008 * Issue

Date: August 2008 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc2452 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable

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