Abstract
The "14th International Conference on Human Retrovirology: HTLV and Related Retroviruses" was held in Salvador, Bahia, from July 1st to July 4th 2009. The aim of this biennial meeting is to promote discussion and share new findings between researchers and clinicians for the benefit of patients infected by human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV). HTLV infects approximately 15–20 million individuals worldwide and causes a broad spectrum of diseases including neurodegeneration and leukemia. The scientific program included a breadth of HTLV research topics: epidemiology, host immune response, basic mechanisms of protein function, virology, pathogenesis, clinical aspects and treatment. Exciting new findings were presented in these different fields, and the new advances have led to novel clinical trials. Here, highlights from this conference are summarized.
Highlights
In the opening ceremony, Carlos Brites (Salvador, Brazil), chair of the conference, underscored the importance of research in preventing human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV)-induced diseases in Brazil as well as throughout the world
Franchini reported that open reading frame 1 (ORF1) was required for infectivity in animal models
Franchini reported that p13II induced Tax degradation and inhibited it's transcriptional activity, thereby decreasing viral replication
Summary
Carlos Brites (Salvador, Brazil), chair of the conference, underscored the importance of research in preventing HTLV-induced diseases in Brazil as well as throughout the world. HTLV-1 causes two major types of diseases: adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) and HTLV-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). The meeting started with memorial lectures remembering three colleagues who departed us too early: John Brady, Ralph Grassmann and Bill Harrington. These three scientists were pillars of retrovirus research and made outstanding contributions to our understanding of HTLV-1 and patient care. The biennial HTLV Retrovirology prize was renamed the "Brady-Grassmann-Harrington prize" (Fig. 1) and was awarded to Carlos Brites (Salvador, Brazil) for his leadership and contributions to HTLV research. The association's McFarlane prize, which recognizes excellence in research, was awarded to William Hall (Dublin, Ireland) for his achievements
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