Human herpesvirus 8-encoded interleukin-6 homologue (viral IL-6) induces endogenous human IL-6 secretion

J Med Virol. 2000 Jul;61(3):332-5. doi: 10.1002/1096-9071(200007)61:3<332::aid-jmv8>3.0.co;2-3.

Abstract

We found that human herpesvirus 8-encoded IL-6 (vIL-6) induced endogenous human IL-6 (huIL-6) secretion from various cell lines (MT-4, THP-1, U937, Raji, and CESS) including patients with multicentric Castleman's disease. Especially, in MT-4 cells, huIL-6 was enhanced with vIL-6 by 30-fold compared with that of control. In addition, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction confirmed that vIL-6 induced huIL-6 expression in MT-4 cells. Our novel finding of the huIL-6 induction by vIL-6 indicates that vIL-6 may play a significant role in the pathogenesis of HHV-8 associated diseases.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Castleman Disease / immunology
  • Cell Line
  • Herpesviridae Infections / immunology
  • Herpesvirus 8, Human / genetics*
  • Herpesvirus 8, Human / metabolism
  • Herpesvirus 8, Human / pathogenicity
  • Humans
  • Interleukin-6 / biosynthesis*
  • Interleukin-6 / genetics
  • Interleukin-6 / pharmacology*
  • Mice
  • Sarcoma, Kaposi / immunology
  • Viral Proteins / genetics
  • Viral Proteins / pharmacology*

Substances

  • Interleukin-6
  • Viral Proteins