Immunological risks of adult T-cell leukemia at primary HTLV-I infection.
A small percentage of human T-cell leukemia virus type-I (HTLV-I)-infected individuals develop adult T-cell leukemia (ATL). In animal experiments, inoculation of HTLV-I via the oral route, which is the main route of mother-to-child viral transmission in humans as a result of breastfeeding, induced host HTLV-I-specific T-cell unresponsiveness and resulted in increased viral load. This strongly suggested that the known epidemiological risk factors for ATL (i.e. vertical HTLV-I infection and elevated viral load) are linked by an insufficient HTLV-I-specific T-cell response. Recent findings on the anti-tumor effects of Tax-targeted vaccination in rats and the reactivation of Tax-specific T cells in ATL patients as a result of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation imply promising immunological approaches for the prophylaxis and therapy of ATL.
Kannagi
Mari
M
Department of Immunotherapeutics, Medical Research Division, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8519, Japan. kann.impt@tmd.ac.jp
Ohashi
Takashi
T
Harashima
Nanae
N
Hanabuchi
Shino
S
Hasegawa
Atsuhiko
A
D000818:Animals; D016356:Gene Products, tax / Q000276:immunology; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000276:immunology* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006801:Humans; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D015459:Leukemia-Lymphoma, Adult T-Cell / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D051381:Rats; D012307:Risk Factors; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology; D019562:Viral Load; D014765:Viral Vaccines
D016356:Gene Products, tax; D014765:Viral Vaccines