{
  "abstract": "Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS), induced by Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), is a multicentric tumor of lymphatic endothelial origin. However, the fundamental molecular mechanisms underlying the KS progression remain poorly understood. Here we found that interaction between KSHV vIRF3 and PKM2 controls the metabolic switch of lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs), inducing disseminated visceral KS in xenograft models of KSHV-infected LECs. Mechanistically, vIRF3–PKM2 interaction elevates intracellular acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) level by augmenting the PKM2 enzymatic activity, leading to SMAD5 acetylation, which contributes to the endothelia-to-mesenchymal transition of LECs. Notably, a vIRF3-derived short peptide acts as a potent and selective PKM2 antagonist, effectively regressing KS progression. Collectively, these results suggest that vIRF3 plays a pivotal role in KS malignancy by linking acetyl-CoA metabolic reprogramming to cancer progression.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, College of Science and Technology, Korea University, Sejong, Republic of Korea",
    "Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA USA",
    "Department of Oral Biology, College of Dentistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL USA",
    "Department of Precision Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Suwon, Republic of Korea",
    "The State Key Laboratory of Virology, Medical Research Institute, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China",
    "College of Pharmacy, Korea University, Sejong, Republic of Korea",
    "Department of Ophthalmology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA USA",
    "Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Brain Korea 21 Project, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan, College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea",
    "Department of Lab Medicine, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 13,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Yeong Jun Kim",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4091-4400"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Juhyeon Lim"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Jae Jin Lee",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-8317-437X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Abhishek Kumar"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Shrute Kannappan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Junjie Zhang",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3812-3850"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Soochi Kim",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2054-6097"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Han-Jun Kim",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9238-7238"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Kyeong Kyu Kim",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2515-8894"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Zsolt Toth"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        6
      ],
      "name": "Hyungjin Eoh",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-8774-6400"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Kyung-Chul Choi"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        8
      ],
      "name": "Hye-Ra Lee",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3815-3291"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c5yj2s6yne35k.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1038/s12276-026-01849-2",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13737100/",
  "id": "c5yj2s6yne35k",
  "issns": [
    "1226-3613",
    "2092-6413"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s12276-026-01849-2",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Article"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2730|Viral-associated cancers and disorders"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7220453616",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s12276-026-01849-2.pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13737100",
  "pmid": "42834109",
  "published": "2026-10-05",
  "publisher": "Korean Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c5yj2s6yne35k.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-09T12:22:24Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13737100",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s12276-026-01849-2"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2730|Viral-associated cancers and disorders",
      "subfield": "oncology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "KSHV vIRF3–PKM2 interaction induces SMAD5 acetylation, promoting Kaposi’s sarcoma progression",
  "title_text": "KSHV vIRF3–PKM2 interaction induces SMAD5 acetylation, promoting Kaposi’s sarcoma progression",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-09T12:22:24Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c5yj2s6yne35k",
  "venue": "Experimental & Molecular Medicine",
  "versions": []
}