# Mechanisms of KSHV Transmission

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2020 · $550,989

## Abstract

Project Summary Abstract
Kaposi's Sarcoma-associated herpesvirus is transmitted primarily by saliva, though other routes
including semen and breastmilk have also been described. There exists a big discrepancy in KSHV
seroprevalence across different populations. It is less than 10% in the US, but > 50% in KSHV endemic
regions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Whereas the US AIDS-KS epidemic was driven by repeated contact
among MSM, in endemic regions KSHV is acquired in childhood. We are responding to RFA-CA-18-
013 to decipher how KSHV is transmitted. The overall goal of this application is to understand the
transmission of KSHV in molecular terms, with the ultimate goal being to inform vaccine design and
identify other means of disrupting transmission. To achieve this goal, we will investigate the three pillars
of transmissibility of infectious agents: (i) variance among KSHV strains using existing specimens from
large clinical cohorts, (ii) variance among the innate immune responses to KSHV infection, and (iii)
variance in the microbiome which may affect both KSHV itself (as measured by local viral load) and the
innate immune response to infection. In each case, we will start by profiling natural human variation
and then explore the function of significant viral and host variants in functional assays for entry,
replication and transmission.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9896795
- **Project number:** 5R01CA239583-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** BLOSSOM A DAMANIA
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $550,989
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-05-01 → 2024-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9896795

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9896795, Mechanisms of KSHV Transmission (5R01CA239583-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9896795. Licensed CC0.

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