Discovery of HTLV-1, the first human retrovirus, its unique regulatory mechanisms, and insights into pathogenesis.
I briefly review the discovery and characterization of the first human retrovirus, human T-cell leukemia virus type 1, focusing on contributions from Japanese researchers. The unique regulatory mechanisms for the viral regulation with Tax and Rex, etiology of ATL and possible leukemogenic mechanism with Tax are also discussed briefly.
Yoshida
Mitsuaki
M
Banyu Tsukuba Research Institute, Banyu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., 3 Ohkubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 300-2611, Japan. mitsuaki_yoshida@merck.com
D016355:Genes, pX; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000266:history; D049673:History, 20th Century; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan