Protein May Promote Cancers in AIDS Patients
Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine is uncovering new information about a protein that appears to help cancer-causing viruses hide from the body’s natural defense system.
The protein under scrutiny is known as LANA, short for latency-associated nuclear antigen. Penn’s study showed the LANA protein enabled Kaposi’s Sarcoma-associated Herpes Virus (KSHV) to avoid immune system defenses. According to the research, LANA interferes with a crucial signaling molecule called intracellular notch by competing for the same binding site it uses. This interference derails the normal cell degradation process resulting in uncontrolled cell growth in patients who have immune-compromised conditions such as AIDS.
Now the researchers hope to discover more about LANA’s role in tumor development by studying animals infected with KSHV. As they explained, the animal models will be useful for testing drug therapies that may eventually prevent the growth of viral-associated cancers like Kaposi Sarcoma and primary effusion lymphoma.
The University of Pennsylvania study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
Source: University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center
Related Links: People Living With Cancer; Lymphoma Research Foundation; EarthTimes.org
Related Video: The Center for AIDS
Related Podcast: National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day from AIDS.gov
Tags: HIV; Erle Robertson, PhD; microbiology; Ke Lan; Chinese Academy of Sciences
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