Ovis aries Papillomavirus 3: a prototype of a novel genus in the family Papillomaviridae associated with ovine squamous cell carcinoma.
Papillomaviruses play an important role in human cancer development, and have been isolated from a number of animal malignancies. However, the association of papillomaviruses with tumors has been poorly investigated in sheep. In this study, a novel ovine Papillomavirus, OaPV3, was cloned from sheep squamous cell carcinoma. Unlike the already known ovine papillomaviruses, belonging to the Delta genus, OaPV3 lacks the E5 open reading frame and maintains the conserved retinoblastoma motif in the E7 gene. OaPV3 infects exclusively epithelial cells, and was found in skin of healthy sheep of geographically separated flocks located in Sardinia (Italy). This new virus is transcriptionally active in tumors and shares low homology with all the other papillomaviruses, establishing a new genus. Taken together, the co-occurrence of OaPV3 and tumors, its cell and tissue tropism, and its gene repertoire, suggests a role for this virus in development of sheep squamous cell carcinoma.
Alberti
Alberto
A
Dipartimento di Patologia e Clinica Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Sassari, via Vienna, 2, 07100 Sassari, Italy. alberti@uniss.it
Pirino
Salvatore
S
Pintore
Francesca
F
Addis
Maria Filippa
MF
Chessa
Bernardo
B
Cacciotto
Carla
C
Cubeddu
Tiziana
T
Anfossi
Antonio
A
Benenati
Gavino
G
Coradduzza
Elisabetta
E
Lecis
Roberta
R
Antuofermo
Elisabetta
E
Carcangiu
Laura
L
Pittau
Marco
M
D000818:Animals; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D034561:Sheep, Domestic; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D013045:Species Specificity
D004279:DNA, Viral