Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) Kaposi's Sarcoma Pathogenesis

Description of projects available to graduate students:
HHV-8 is the causative agent of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). KS is the most common malignancy seen in AIDS patients. However in some regions such as Thailand, KS is very rare even though both HHV-8 and HIV-1 are quite prevalent. This project will address this issue by comparing the ability of HHV-8 to infect microvasular endothelial cells isolated from Thai subjects to those from the U.S. We hypothesize that there is a genetic factor responsible for the lack of KS in this country that results in an inability of the virus to infect endothelial cells. Endothelial cells from Thailand and the U.S> will be obtained and infected with HHV-8 in vitro. Infection will be monitored by expression of viral antigens and increases in viral DNA levels.

Techniques graduate student will learn:
Cell culture, immunofluroescence assay, FLOW cytometry, viral techniques, DNA isolation, real-time PCR