title: Host range and cellular tropism of the human exogenous gammaretrovirus XMRV.
abstract: Recently, the first human infection with an exogenous gammaretrovirus (XMRV) was reported. In its initial description, XMRV was confined to prostate stromal fibroblasts, although subsequent reports demonstrated XMRV protein expression in prostate epithelial cells. Most recently, XMRV has been detected in blood cells of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. The aim of this study was to elucidate the transmission routes and tissue tropism of XMRV by comparing its host range, receptor usage and LTR functionality with other MLV isolates. We demonstrate using pseudotype experiments that XMRV Env mediates efficient infection of cells from different species. We show that replication competent XMRV infects various human cell types, including hematopoietic cell lines and prostate stromal fibroblasts. XMRV-LTR activity is significantly higher in the prostate cancer cell line LNCaP and in prostate stromal fibroblasts, compared to other cell types tested and could be one factor contributing to efficient viral spread in prostate tissue.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Microbiology and Virology, University Medical Center Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stieler
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Microbiology and Virology, University Medical Center Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.affiliation: Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, CNRS UMR 5535, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Madakasira
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lavanya
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Microbiology and Virology, University Medical Center Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aepfelbacher
authors.affiliation: Heinrich-Pette-Institute, 20251 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stocking
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Microbiology and Virology, University Medical Center Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany. Electronic address: nfischer@uke.de.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fischer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D017988:Gammaretrovirus / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D010802:Phylogeny; D011467:Prostate / Q000821:virology; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / Q000378:metabolism; D011991:Receptors, Virus / Q000378:metabolism; D012192:Retroviridae Infections / Q000821:virology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D020079:Terminal Repeat Sequences / Q000502:physiology; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000821:virology*; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000502:physiology; D000089842:Xenotropic and Polytropic Retrovirus Receptor
chemical_list: D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; D011991:Receptors, Virus; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; D000089842:Xenotropic and Polytropic Retrovirus Receptor