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Tumorigenesis and metastasis of neoplastic Kaposi's sarcoma cell line in immunodeficient mice blocked by a human pregnancy hormone

Nature volume 375, pages 64–68 (1995)Cite this article

A Correction to this article was published on 03 August 1995

Abstract

KAPOSI'S sarcoma (KS) occurs more often in men than in women and HIV-l-associated KS has a high occurrence in homosexual men (over 30%). Most cultures of KS tumours yield cells with properties of hyperplastic (not malignant) endothelial cells under the control of several cytokines1á€-7. The role of HIV-1 may be in promoting high levels of some cytokines and providing stimulation to angiogenesis by the HIV-1 Tat protein8, which synergizes with basic fibroblast growth factor in promoting these effects9. Here we describe an immortalized AIDS-KS cell line (KS Y-l) and show that these cells produce malignant metastatic tumours in nude mice and are killed in vitro and in vivo (apparently by apoptosis) by a pregnancy hormone, the β-chain of human chorionic gonadotropin. Similarly, chorionic gonadotropin kills KS SLK, cells from another neoplastic cell line (established from a non-HIV-associated KS)10, as well as the hyper plastic KS cells from clinical specimens grown in short-term culture, but does not kill normal endothelial cells. These results provide evidence that KS can evolve into a malignancy and have implications for the hormonal treatment of this tumour.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology, National Cancer Institute,

    Yanto Lunardi-lskandar, Robert A. Zeman, Victor H. Lam, Felipe Samaniego, Alain R. Thierry & Robert C. Gallo

  2. Animal Care Unit, National Institute of Dental Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, USA

    Joseph L. Bryant

  3. Gynecology and Obstetric Medical Center, 28 PI St Ferdinand, 75017, Paris, France

    Jacques M. Besnier

  4. University Libre de Bruxelles, St-Pierre Hospital, Dept des maladies infectious, 322 rue Haute, 1000, Bruxelles, Belgium

    Philippe Hermans

  5. University of Southern California, School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, 90033, USA

    Parkash Gill

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Lunardi-lskandar, Y., Bryant, J., Zeman, R. et al. Tumorigenesis and metastasis of neoplastic Kaposi's sarcoma cell line in immunodeficient mice blocked by a human pregnancy hormone. Nature 375, 64–68 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/375064a0

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