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J. Exp. Med.,
Volume 189, Number 12, June 21, 1999 1993-1998
By


From the * Department of Antiviral Therapy, the The Kaposi's sarcoma-related herpesvirus (KSHV), also designated human herpesvirus 8, is the
presumed etiologic agent of Kaposi's sarcoma and certain lymphomas. Although KSHV encodes
several chemokine homologues (viral macrophage inflammatory protein [vMIP]-I, -II, and -III),
only vMIP-II has been functionally characterized. We report here that vMIP-I is a specific agonist
for the CC chemokine receptor (CCR)8 that is preferentially expressed on Th2 T cells. Y3 cells
transfected with CCR8 produced a calcium flux in response to vMIP-I and responded vigorously
in in vitro chemotaxis assays. In competition binding experiments, the interaction of vMIP-I with
CCR8 was shown to be specific and of high affinity. In contrast to its agonist activity at CCR8,
vMIP-I did not interact with CCR5 or any of 11 other receptors examined. Furthermore, vMIP-I was unable to inhibit CCR5-mediated HIV infection. These findings suggest that expression of
vMIP-I by KSHV may influence the Th1/Th2 balance of the host immune response.
Department of Allergy and Immunology, and the § Department of Human Genome Research, Schering-Plough Research Institute, Kenilworth,
New Jersey 07033
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