Immune Evasion by Kaposi‘s Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus

Abstract

Persistent viral infections are often associated with serious diseases, primarily by altering functions of the host immune system. The hallmark of Kaposi‘s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) infection is the establishment of a life-long persistent infection, which leads to several clinical, epidemiological and infectious diseases, such as Kaposi‘s sarcoma, a plasmablastic variant of multicentric Castleman‘s disease, and primary effusion lymphoma. To sustain an efficient life-long persistency, KSHV dedicates a large portion of its genome to encoding immunomodulatory proteins that antagonize the immune system of its host. In this article, we highlight the strategies KSHV uses to evade, escape and survive its battle against the host‘s immune system.

Keywords:

• immune evasion
• immune modulatory protein
• Kaposi‘s sarcoma
• Kaposi‘s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus
• primary effusion lymphoma

Acknowledgements

We apologize to our colleagues whose work could not be cited because of space constraints.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This work was partly supported by CA082057, CA31363, CA115284, CA147868, CA148616, AI073099, AI083025, DE019085, Hastings Foundation, Fletcher Jones Foundation, and Korean GRL and KRIBB grants. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This work was partly supported by CA082057, CA31363, CA115284, CA147868, CA148616, AI073099, AI083025, DE019085, Hastings Foundation, Fletcher Jones Foundation, and Korean GRL and KRIBB grants. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.