Discovery and Classification of Human Herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6)

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Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the events that led to the discovery of the human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6). HHV-6 was discovered in early 1985 in Dr. Robert Gallo's Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology from peripheral blood and splenic tissue of AIDS patients. In the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of at least 6–8 patients with B-cell lymphoma were large, refractile cells always either single or, occasionally, two or more together. These cells began to disappear after a few days in culture, even in the presence of IL-2. The individuals with these cells were all AIDS patients with or without lymphoma. This chapter reviews the nomenclature and classification of HHV-6. The International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV)-endorsed nomenclature consists of the designation of herpesviruses by serial Arabic number and the family or sub-family of the natural host of the virus for example HHV-6, HHV-7, etc. The ICTV classified human herpesviruses into three sub-families, i.e. alpha, beta, and gamma, and eight human herpesviruses, i.e. HSV-1, HSV-2, VZV, CMV, HHV-6, HHV-7, EBV, and HHV-8 were put into these sub-families on the basis of their biological properties, before DNA sequences of the individual members of the family were known. ICTV also classified a small number of herpesviruses as to genera , based on DNA sequence homology and similarities in genomic sequence demonstrated by immunologic methods.