Polyoma virus and SV40 are the founding members of the Polyomaviridae. They are small viruses, with a genome consisting of around 5.3kbases of closed circular, double-stranded DNA. This simplicity, the ease with which they can be grown, and their capacity to cause cancers in newborn rodents has made them popular models for studying the molecular basis of cancer formation. As a consequence, many of the underlying principles involved in tumorigenesis have been uncovered during the study of these viruses. For instance, the discovery of p53, Rb protein function, tyrosine kinases and PI3 kinases were all made when examining polyoma virus and SV40. Here we review how these discoveries were made, and the influence they have had on our understanding of cancer development.
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Merkel cell carcinoma is a rare neuroendocrine tumor with high mortality. It is well known that clonal integration of the Merkel cell polyomavirus into the dermal precursor cells is a hypothesized pathway in Merkel cell carcinoma pathogenesis. Here, we demonstrate a case of Merkel cell carcinoma (primary origin unknown) presenting with high Merkel cell polyomavirus DNA levels in swabs obtained from normal skin.
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View Article and Find Full Text PDFHerpesviruses mimic zygotic genome activation to promote viral replication.
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Institute of Virology, University Medical Center, and Faculty of Medicine, Albert-Ludwig-University Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
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Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
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