Abstract
In 2003, Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus (APMV) was first described and began to impact researchers around the world, due to its structural and genetic complexity. This virus founded the family Mimiviridae. In recent years, several new giant viruses have been isolated from different environments and specimens. Giant virus research is in its initial phase and information that may arise in the coming years may change current conceptions of life, diversity and evolution. Thus, this review aims to condense the studies conducted so far about the features and peculiarities of APMV, from its discovery to its clinical relevance.
Highlights
Viruses are remarkable organisms that have always attracted scientific interest
Giant viruses offer deep ecological and clinical importance, the Mimiviridae group deserves special emphasis; they have been the subject of intense research in recent years, which has generated much relevant information [4,5,6,7,8,11,12,13,14]
The results showed that Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus (APMV) is able to replicate in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and induce type I IFN in these cells and that it inhibits some IFN-stimulated genes (ISG) by a mechanism that is independent of viroceptors and STAT dephosphorylation [49]
Summary
Viruses are remarkable organisms that have always attracted scientific interest. The study of unique viral features has been a wellspring of discovery that helped establish the foundations of molecular biology and led to in-depth evolutionary studies [1,2,3]. When the complete sequencing and analysis of its genome was finished, it became evident that this peculiar organism clustered with other giant viruses and not with bacteria [5] This new virus was called Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus (APMV), due its ability to infect the free-living amoebae Acanthamoeba polyphaga sp. The ability of APMV to enter and replicate inside human phagocytic cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells in vitro has been reported [39] These reports, together with the human blood isolation of the marseillevirus, another giant virus of amoeba belonging to a different family, suggests that vertebrates may be hosts of these viruses [46]. Mimiviruses are the second group amongst NCLDVs most searched in the Google platform, and, on some occasions, even overcomes the well-known poxviruses (Figure 3)
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