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Open AccessJournal ArticleDOI

Clonal integration of a polyomavirus in human Merkel cell carcinoma.

Huichen Feng, +3 more
- 22 Feb 2008 - 
- Vol. 319, Iss: 5866, pp 1096-1100
TLDR
In six of eight MCV-positive MCCs, viral DNA was integrated within the tumor genome in a clonal pattern, suggesting that MCV infection and integration preceded clonal expansion of the tumor cells, and MCV may be a contributing factor in the pathogenesis of MCC.
Abstract
Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare but aggressive human skin cancer that typically affects elderly and immunosuppressed individuals, a feature suggestive of an infectious origin. We studied MCC samples by digital transcriptome subtraction and detected a fusion transcript between a previously undescribed virus T antigen and a human receptor tyrosine phosphatase. Further investigation led to identification and sequence analysis of the 5387-base-pair genome of a previously unknown polyomavirus that we call Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV or MCPyV). MCV sequences were detected in 8 of 10 (80%) MCC tumors but only 5 of 59 (8%) control tissues from various body sites and 4 of 25 (16%) control skin tissues. In six of eight MCV-positive MCCs, viral DNA was integrated within the tumor genome in a clonal pattern, suggesting that MCV infection and integration preceded clonal expansion of the tumor cells. Thus, MCV may be a contributing factor in the pathogenesis of MCC.

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A molecular case-control study of the Merkel cell polyomavirus in colon cancer.

TL;DR: The findings of this survey are consistent with the hypothesis that the Merkel cell polyomavirus can be recovered frequently from the gastrointestinal tract, because it is transmitted throughout the fecal‐oral route.
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A Review of Carcinomas Arising in the Head and Neck Region in HIV-Positive Patients

TL;DR: Data suggest that HIV-positive patients with these cancers present at a younger age, with more aggressive disease and worse prognosis compared to HIV-negative patients, and that highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has not altered the incidence of these malignancies.
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Landscape and Future Perspectives of Immunotherapy in Neuroendocrine Neoplasia

TL;DR: Immunotherapy seems a valid treatment option for high grade, poorly differentiated neoplasms and the combination of immunotherapy with other agents, such as anti-angiogenic or other immunotherapy agents, should be explored in order to evaluate potential efficacy in low and intermediate grades, well differentiated tumors.
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Molecular insight into the viral biology and clinical features of trichodysplasia spinulosa

TL;DR: The clinical and histological features of TS are summarized, the viral aetiology of the disease is addressed, and the mechanisms by which TSPyV may influence TS development and progression are explored.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Identification of herpesvirus-like DNA sequences in AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma

TL;DR: unique sequences present in more than 90 percent of Kaposi's sarcoma tissues obtained from patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) appear to define a new human herpesvirus.
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A papillomavirus DNA from a cervical carcinoma and its prevalence in cancer biopsy samples from different geographic regions.

TL;DR: The data indicate that HPV 16 DNA prevails in malignant tumors, rendering an accidental contamination with papillomavirus DNA from adjacent papillomas rather unlikely, and suggests a dependence of HPV 16 replication on helper virus.
Journal ArticleDOI

SV40 large tumor antigen forms a specific complex with the product of the retinoblastoma susceptibility gene

TL;DR: Results are consistent with a model for transformation by SV40 which, at least in part, involves T/p110-114 complex formation and the perturbation of Rb protein and/or T function.
Journal ArticleDOI

Identification of a novel polyomavirus from patients with acute respiratory tract infections.

TL;DR: The presence of multiple instances of the virus in two continents suggests that this virus is geographically widespread in the human population and raises the possibility that the WU virus may be a human pathogen.
Journal ArticleDOI

Identification of a Third Human Polyomavirus

TL;DR: The identification of a previously unknown polyomvirus provisionally named KI polyomavirus, which is phylogenetically related to other primatepolyomaviruses in the early region of the genome but has very little homology to known polyomVirus in the late region, illustrates how unbiased screening of respiratory tract samples can be used for the discovery of diverse virus types.
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