IL3Rα plays a key role in KSHV-mediated PROX1 upregulation.

<p>(A) Adenoviral expression of IL3Rα increased the expression of PROX1 mRNA and protein in BECs and HUVECs, but not in LECs based on qRT-PCR and western blot analyses. AdCTR, control adenovirus; AdIL3Rα, IL3Rα-expressing adenovirus. (B) The expression of various LEC-associated genes such as PDPN, VEGFR3, FGFR3, LYVE1, CDKN1C, ITGA1, PPL and SLC was determined by qRT-PCR in BECs or HUVECs transduced by a control (AdCTR) versus IL3Rα- (AdIL3Rα) adenovirus for 48 hours. The graph shows fold changes in expression of each gene by IL3Rα-expressing adenovirus over the control virus. (C) Inhibition of IL3Rα by siRNA or a neutralizing antibody partially abrogated the KSHV-mediated PROX1 upregulation in BECs and HUVECs, as determined by qRT-PCR (BECs and HUVECs) and western blot (BEC only) analyses. siCTR, siRNA for the firefly luciferase; siIL3Rα, siRNA for IL3Rα; anti-IL3Rα, neutralizing antibody against IL3Rα.