Wilms' tumor 1 (WT1) antigen is overexpressed in Kaposi Sarcoma and is regulated by KSHV vFLIP Journal Article
| Authors: | Morales, A. E.; Gumenick, R.; Genovese, C. M.; Jang, Y. Y.; Ouedraogo, A.; de Garayo, M. I.; Pannellini, T.; Patel, S.; Bott, M. E.; Alvarez, J.; Mun, S. S.; Totonchy, J.; Gautam, A.; de La Mora, J. D.; Chang, S.; Wirth, D.; Horenstein, M.; Dao, T.; Scheinberg, D. A.; Rubinstein, P. G.; Semeere, A.; Martin, J.; Godfrey, C. C.; Moser, C. B.; Matining, R. M.; Campbell, T. B.; Borok, M. Z.; Krown, S. E.; Cesarman, E. |
| Article Title: | Wilms' tumor 1 (WT1) antigen is overexpressed in Kaposi Sarcoma and is regulated by KSHV vFLIP |
| Abstract: | In people living with HIV, Kaposi Sarcoma (KS), a vascular neoplasm caused by the KS herpesvirus (KSHV/HHV-8), remains the most common malignancy worldwide. Individuals living with HIV, receiving otherwise effective antiretroviral therapy, may present with extensive disease requiring chemotherapy. Hence, new therapeutic approaches are needed. The Wilms' tumor 1 (WT1) protein is overexpressed and associated with poor prognosis in several hematologic and solid malignancies and has shown promise as an immunotherapeutic target. We found that WT1 was overexpressed in >90% of a total 333 KS biopsies, as determined by immunohistochemistry and image analysis. Our largest cohort from ACTG, consisting of 294 cases was further analyzed demonstrating higher WT1 expression was associated with more advanced histopathologic subtypes. There was a positive correlation between the proportion of infected cells within KS tissues, assessed by expression of the KSHV-encoded latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA), and WT1 positivity. Areas with high WT1 expression showed sparse T-cell infiltrates, consistent with an immune evasive tumor microenvironment. We show that major oncogenic isoforms of WT1 are overexpressed in primary KS tissue and observed WT1 upregulation upon de novo infection of endothelial cells with KSHV. KSHV latent viral FLICE-inhibitory protein (vFLIP) upregulated total and major isoforms of WT1, but upregulation was not seen after expression of mutant vFLIP that is unable to bind IKKγ and induce NFB. siRNA targeting of WT1 in latent KSHV infection resulted in decreased total cell number and pAKT, BCL2 and LANA protein expression. Finally, we show that ESK-1, a T cell receptor-like monoclonal antibody that recognizes WT1 peptides presented on MHC HLA-A0201, shows increased binding to endothelial cells after KSHV infection or induction of vFLIP expression. We propose that oncogenic isoforms of WT1 are upregulated by KSHV to promote tumorigenesis and that immunotherapy directed against WT1 may be an approach for KS treatment. © 2024 Public Library of Science. All rights reserved. |
| Keywords: | immunohistochemistry; signal transduction; protein kinase b; controlled study; human tissue; protein expression; human cell; histopathology; paclitaxel; flow cytometry; cd8+ t lymphocyte; gene overexpression; protein bcl 2; progression free survival; apoptosis; cell infiltration; etoposide; cohort analysis; vincristine; tumor biopsy; viral gene delivery system; endothelium cell; cd4+ t lymphocyte; western blotting; lentivirus; bleomycin; immunophenotyping; upregulation; kaposi sarcoma; wt1 protein; human herpesvirus 8; tumor microenvironment; latency associated nuclear antigen; rna isolation; flice inhibitory protein; antiretroviral therapy; umbilical vein endothelial cell; human; article; immunofluorescence assay; real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction; efavirenz plus emtricitabine plus tenofovir disoproxil |
| Journal Title: | PLoS Pathogens |
| Volume: | 20 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| ISSN: | 1553-7366 |
| Publisher: | Public Library of Science |
| Date Published: | 2024-01-08 |
| Start Page: | e1011881 |
| Language: | English |
| DOI: | 10.1371/journal.ppat.1011881 |
| PUBMED: | 38190392 |
| PROVIDER: | scopus |
| PMCID: | PMC10898863 |
| DOI/URL: | |
| Notes: | Article -- Source: Scopus |
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