17th Annual Student Research Conference
Science
Detection of a Putative Kaposi's Sarcoma Virus (Human Herpes Virus-8) in Infants by Immunofluorescence Assays
Stacey A. Smith
Dr. Charles Wood (Nebraska Center for Virology - Lincoln, NE) and Dr. Michael Lockhart, Faculty Mentors
Through the history of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in Africa, a correlation has been shown between dual Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 (HIV-1)/Human Herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) infection and Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) in African infants, ages 12-36 months. A useful tool for understanding KS is to be able to detect HHV-8 in blood serum samples, and there are several immunofluorescence assays that can be utilized for this purpose. One uses an SF-9 cell line (treated and untreated with 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) for lytic and latent virus detection) and another uses BC-3 cells manipulated to express genes specific to lytic or latent HHV-8 (ORF 65, K8.1, and ORF 73). These tests were determined to be quite consistent, but they should be combined to ensure maximum reliability of the results. These assays are also cost effective and time efficient, and should be the primary diagnostic tests for further epidemiological studies of HHV-8.
Keywords: Kaposi's Sarcoma, HHV-8, HIV-1, Immunofluorescence, HHV-8 detection, Infant disease
Topic(s):Biology
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 11-3
Location: VH 1010
Time: 9:00