Abstract:
The oncogenic potential of a virus depends on several factors, including the attachment of the virus to the host cell via receptors on the cell surface, integration of the viral genome into the host cell, replication of the virus, and transformation of the cell. For the DNA oncogenic viruses, it appears that the early gene products are important in cell transformation, whereas the late gene products are responsible for the lytic functions of the virus. Oncogenic viruses are reviewed under the following headings: adenoviruses; herpesviruses (cytomegalovirus [CMV], Epstein-Barr virus [EBV], herpes simplex virus [HSV], and human B lymphotropic virus [human herpes virus 6]); papillomaviruses; papovaviruses (simian virus 40, BK virus, and JC virus); and retroviruses (acute and chronic leukemia viruses, feline and bovine leukemia viruses, human T-lymphotropic retroviruses [HTLV], HTLV-I and HTLV-II, and HTLV-III and AIDS, including biological features, properties of the HTLV genome, and AIDS studies and treatment prospects). Although approx 30 distinct serotypes of adenoviruses have been identified in humans, only human adenovirus type 12 has been associated with naturally occurring neoplasms; it produces tumors in newborn hamsters. Herpesviruses with oncogenic potential that have been isolated from humans include HSV-1, HSV-2, CMV, and EBV. In man, several different types of benign warts are associated with papillomaviruses, but no case of malignant transformation of these warts in normal individuals has been found. However, transformation does occur in about 25% of patients with the rare human genetic disease epidermodysplasia verruciformis. There is no evidence that papovaviruses produce tumors in their native hosts. Retroviruses belong to a group of RNA-containing viruses that can synthesize DNA copies of the RNA genome with the help of an RNA-directed DNA polymerase (reverse transcriptase). In animal systems, infectious retroviruses usually can be isolated from tumor material, but until recently infectious retrovirus particles were not reproducibly obtained from human tumors. However, the isolation and characterization of HTLVs as etiologic agents of adult T-cell leukemia, AIDS, and AIDS-related complex point to the possible involvement of this group of viruses in other human neoplasias. (179 Refs)
Keywords: Adenoviruses, Human/GENETICS Animal *Cell Transformation, Neoplastic *Cell Transformation, Viral DNA, Viral/GENETICS Herpesviridae/GENETICS Human HIV/GENETICS Leukemia-Lymphoma, T-Cell, Acute, HTLV-I-Associated/ETIOLOGY Oncogenes Papillomavirus/GENETICS Papovaviridae/GENETICS Retroviridae/GENETICS Risk Factors Tumor Virus Infections/*ETIOLOGY/GENETICS Virus Replication JOURNAL ARTICLE REVIEW REVIEW, TUTORIAL 900130
M9010543
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