title: How does the Merkel polyomavirus lead to a lethal cancer? Many answers, many questions, and a new mouse model.
abstract: The Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV), discovered in 2008, drives the development of most Merkel cell carcinomas (MCCs) through several canonical mechanisms. A glaring gap in our knowledge remains the basis by which MCPyV, among all 12 human polyomaviruses, is the only one that causes cancer in humans. Moreover, initial attempts by numerous groups have failed to reproduce MCC in mice using oncoproteins from this polyomavirus. Verhaegen et al. report MCPyV small T-antigen-expressing transgenic mice that now provide insight into in vivo transformation mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine/Dermatology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
authors.forename: Candice D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Church
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine/Dermatology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA; Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Seattle, Washington, USA. Electronic address: pnghiem@uw.edu.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nghiem
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000957:Antigens, Viral, Tumor / Q000502:physiology*; D063646:Carcinogenesis / Q000473:pathology*; D015266:Carcinoma, Merkel Cell / Q000503:physiopathology*; D059965:Merkel cell polyomavirus / Q000276:immunology*; D027601:Polyomavirus Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000957:Antigens, Viral, Tumor