Abstract
The polyomaviruses are small DNA viruses that can establish latency in the human host. The name polyomavirus is derived from the Greek roots poly-, which means “many,” and -oma, which means “tumours.” These viruses were originally isolated in mouse (mPyV) and in monkey (SV40). In 1971, the first human polyomaviruses BK and JC were isolated and subsequently demonstrated to be ubiquitous in the human population. To date, at least nine members of the Polyomaviridae family have been identified, some of them playing an etiological role in malignancies in immunosuppressed patients. Here, we describe the biology of human polyomaviruses, their nonmalignant and malignant potentials ability, and their relationship with the host immune response.
Highlights
The polyomaviruses are small DNA viruses that can establish latency in the human host
The name polyomavirus is derived from the Greek roots poly, which means “many,” and -oma, which means “tumours.” These viruses were originally isolated in mouse and in monkey (SV40)
Until 2006, BK virus (BKV) and JC virus (JCV), first isolated in 1971 [4, 5], were the only two human polyomaviruses known some evidence suggested that the simian virus 40 (SV40) could be linked to some human tumours [6]
Summary
Polyomavirus is the sole genus of viruses within the Polyomaviridae family. Initially, polyomaviruses were taxonomically classified as a genus of the Papovaviridae family along with papillomaviruses; in 2000, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses formally split the two viruses into two new families, Polyomaviridae and Papillomaviridae [1]. JCV and BKV usually infect the human population during early childhood, and primary infection is often asymptomatic These viruses can remain latent in the kidney cells of the host until reactivation which occurs during immunodepression. In 2007, two new human polyomaviruses were independently described: the KI polyomavirus (KIV) at Karolinska Institute and WU polyomavirus (WUV) the at the Washington University [12, 13] These viruses that are closely related to each other were both identified from nasopharyngeal aspirates from children with respiratory tract infections. Three other polyomaviruses were isolated from no-tumoral skin, the Human Polyomavirus 6 and 7 (HPyV6, HPyV7), and the Trichodysplasia Spinulosa-associated Virus (TSPyV) [15, 16]. Nonproductive infection is established when the virus infects nonpermissive cells blocking the viral DNA replication and triggering cell transformation (oncogenesis) [27]
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