1742-4690-5-S1-O4 1742-4690 Oral presentation <p>Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) “in vitro” infection of human placental histocultures</p> Di Stefano Mariantonietta Calabro Maria Luisa Di Gangi Iole Maria Cantatore Santina Barbierato Massimo Chieco-Bianchi Luigi Greco Pantaleo Gesualdo Loreto Menu Elisabeth Fiore José Ramon

Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy

Istituto Oncologico Veneto, IRCCS, Immunology and Diagnostic Molecular Oncology, Padova,Italy

Laboratory of Histology, School of Medicine, University of Foggia, Italy

Department of Oncology and Surgical Sciences, Oncology Section, University of Padova, Padova, Italy

Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy

Unité de Régulation des Infections Rétrovirales, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France

Department of Clinical and Occupational Health, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy

 Retrovirology <p>Fourth Dominique International Conference. Maternal chronic viral infections transmitted to infants: from mechanisms to prevention and care</p> Meeting abstracts - A single PDF containing all abstracts in this Supplement is available here. http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1742-4690-5-S1-info.pdf <p>Fourth Dominique Dormont International Conference. Host-Pathogen Interactions in Chronic Infections</p> Paris, France 13-15 December 2007 http://www.ddormont-conferences.org/ 1742-4690 2008 5 Suppl 1 O4 http://www.retrovirology.com/content/5/S1/O4 10.1186/1742-4690-5-S1-O4 9 04 2008 2008 Di Stefano et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Background

Most human Herpesvirus infect placental cells and may be harmful in pregnancy, leading to obstetrical and/or neonatal complications. Although a correlation between human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) infection and abortion or low birth weight in children has been reported 12 presently no information has been published regarding HHV-8 tropism for placenta.

Materials and methods

In this study, a placenta histoculture system was used to evaluate the susceptibility of placental cells to “in vitro” HHV-8 infection. Quantitative detection of HHV-8 was performed by real-time PCR, and virus expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry for latent and lytic HHV-8 antigens.

Results

Increasing amounts of HHV-8 DNA were detected in placental tissues and culture supernatants and immunohistochemistry analyses demonstrated that both cyto- and syncitiotrophoblasts, as well as placental endothelial cells, expressed latent (see Figure 1) and lytic antigens. In addition, relevant apoptotic phenomena were observed in infected histocultures.

<p>Figure 1</p>

Immunohistochemical detection of the HHV-8 LANA protein in placental histocultures. Specific reactivity was visualized with immunoperoxidase staining using anti-LANA-1 monoclonal antibodies with a DAB developer (brown colour) and haematoxylin counterstaining. (A) HHV-8-infected CRO-AP/3 cells showed a strongly positive nuclear immunostaining. (B) HHV-8-infected placental histocultures showed positive immunostaining in cytotrophoblasts (yellow arrow), syncytiotrophoblasts (blue arrow) and endothelial cells (white arrow). (C) Mock-infected placental histocultures. Original magnifications, X100

Immunohistochemical detection of the HHV-8 LANA protein in placental histocultures. Specific reactivity was visualized with immunoperoxidase staining using anti-LANA-1 monoclonal antibodies with a DAB developer (brown colour) and haematoxylin counterstaining. (A) HHV-8-infected CRO-AP/3 cells showed a strongly positive nuclear immunostaining. (B) HHV-8-infected placental histocultures showed positive immunostaining in cytotrophoblasts (yellow arrow), syncytiotrophoblasts (blue arrow) and endothelial cells (white arrow). (C) Mock-infected placental histocultures. Original magnifications, X100.

Conclusions

We here demonstrated for the first time that HHV-8, like other human herpesviruses, may productively infect placental cells in vitro, thus providing evidence that this phenomenon might influence vertical transmission and pregancy outcome in HHV-8-infected women.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from Istituto Superiore di Sanità (grant n. 50G.3, MLC; grant n. 50G.29, JRF) and from Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (MLC). MB was the recipient of a fellowship from Associazione Italiana per la Lotta contro le Leucemie, Linfomi e Mieloma (AIL).

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