Analysis of single-nucleotide polymorphisms in patient-derived retrovirus integration sites reveals contamination from cell lines acutely infected by xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus.

We analyzed xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) integration site sequences previously identified from human prostate tissues for single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to discriminate between patient and potential cell line sources of the proviruses. The SNPs of two integration sites were identical to those in cell lines but not the patients, whereas the data on the remaining 12 integration sites were inconclusive. Our results provide direct evidence for contamination during analysis of XMRV integration sites.

Biology and pathophysiology of the new human retrovirus XMRV and its association with human disease.

Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) is a new human retrovirus originally identified in prostate cancer patients with a deficiency in the antiviral enzyme RNase L. XMRV has been detected with varying frequencies in cases of prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), as well as in a small proportion of healthy individuals. An etiologic link between XMRV infection and human disease, however, has yet to be established.

Fidelity of target site duplication and sequence preference during integration of xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus.

Xenotropic murine leukemia virus (MLV)-related virus (XMRV) is a new human retrovirus associated with prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome. The causal relationship of XMRV infection to human disease and the mechanism of pathogenicity have not been established. During retrovirus replication, integration of the cDNA copy of the viral RNA genome into the host cell chromosome is an essential step and involves coordinated joining of the two ends of the linear viral DNA into staggered sites on target DNA.