2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Spontaneous regression of classic type Kaposi's sarcoma and therapeutic application for cancer

Research Project

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Project/Area Number	20K08655
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Section	一般
Review Section	Basic Section 53050:Dermatology-related
Research Institution	University of the Ryukyus
Principal Investigator	Kinjo Takao 琉球大学, 医学部, 教授 (30284962)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	田中勇悦琉球大学, 医学部, 産学官連携研究員 (30163588) 上原佳里奈琉球大学, 医学部, 助教 (30782594) 喜名振一郎群馬大学, 大学院医学系研究科, 講師 (40422422) 荒川博文国立研究開発法人国立がん研究センター, 研究所, 分野長 (70313088) 高橋健造琉球大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 教授 (80291425)
Project Period (FY)	2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
Keywords	カポジ肉腫 / KSHV / 古典型 / 自然消退
Outline of Final Research Achievements	Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) is intermediate malignant soft tissue tumor caused by Kaposi sarcoma associated herpesvirus (KSHV). Based on clinical presentations, there are four clinical types. Among these subtypes, AIDS-related KS shows rapid and aggressive progression affecting multiple organs. In contrast, classic type KS demonstrates slow and limited clinical presentations and sometimes regress spontaneously. KSHV K1 gene is involved in KS oncogenesis. In previous research, we revealed that transformation activity of K1 gene derive from AIDS-related KS is more potent than that from classic type KS. In this research, we evaluated the important K1 region which is associated with the difference of transformation activity between AIDS-related KS and classic KS. We found that the amino acid sequence of VR2 region in K1 extracellular domain is highly correlated to the transformation activity. These findings gave insight into the precise mechanism of transformation induced by KSHV K1 gene.
Free Research Field	病理学
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	私達はKS発生に関わるKSHV K1遺伝子の形質転換能がAIDS関連型と古典型で異なる事を明らかにし報告している。本研究では、さらにK1遺伝子のどの部位が形質転換に寄与するのか検討した。様々な検討の結果、KSHV K1遺伝子の細胞外ドメインのVR2領域の違いが形質転換能に大きく関わる事を明らかにした。KSHV K1遺伝子の形質転換誘導に重要な領域を世界で初めて特定した。将来的にはこの知見を応用し、副作用の無い癌の自然消退療法の開発の基盤となると考えられる。