Faculty Articles

Replication in a superficial epithelial cell niche explains the lack of pathogenicity of primate foamy virus infections.

Publication Title

Journal of virology

Publisher

American Society For Microbiology

ISSN

0022-538X

Publication Date

6-1-2008

Keywords

Animals, DNA, Viral, Epithelial Cells, In Situ Hybridization, Macaca mulatta, Monkey Diseases, RNA, Viral, Retroviridae Infections, Spumavirus, Virus Replication

Abstract

Foamy viruses (FVs) are ancient retroviruses that are ubiquitous in nonhuman primates (NHPs). While FVs share many features with pathogenic retroviruses, such as human immunodeficiency virus, FV infections of their primate hosts have no apparent pathological consequences. Paradoxically, FV infections of many cell types in vitro are rapidly cytopathic. Previous work has shown that low levels of proviral DNA are found in most tissues of naturally infected rhesus macaques, but these proviruses are primarily latent. In contrast, viral RNA, indicative of viral replication, is restricted to tissues of the oral mucosa, where it is abundant. Here, we perform in situ hybridization on tissues from rhesus macaques naturally infected with simian FV (SFV). We show that superficial differentiated epithelial cells of the oral mucosa, many of which appear to be shedding from the tissue, are the major cell type in which SFV replicates. Thus, the innocuous nature of SFV infection can be explained by replication that is limited to differentiated superficial cells that are short-lived and shed into saliva. This finding can also explain the highly efficient transmission of FVs among NHPs.

DOI

10.1128/JVI.00367-08

Volume

82

Issue

12

First Page

5981

Last Page

5985

Disciplines

Medical Specialties | Medicine and Health Sciences | Osteopathic Medicine and Osteopathy

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