Spumaviruses: A New Potential Danger for the Human Population or a New Hope in the Gene Therapy

Abstract

ABSTRACTSpumaviruses (SV), also known as Foamy viruses (FoV), are widespread retroviruses (RV) among nonhuman primates (NHP), named as Simian foamy virus (SFoV). The FoV, isolated in humans and termed Human FoV, (HFoV) is identical to SFoV. SFoV, in contrast to other simian RV, is nonpathogenic in naturally infected NHP and in humans, but they are highly cytopatic in vitro. Apathogenicity of FoV together with their large genome size and a broad host range make FoV ideal candidate vectors for somatic gene therapy. But simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) when crossed to human population, via zoonotic transmission, it became human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Very little is known about what possible effects FV and SFoV might have on humans. The probabilities FoV to become new HIV remain unclear to date.