RETROVIRAL ANTIGENS AND TUMOURS

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Abstract
Retroviruses probably infect all vertebrate species, and they are responsible for a wide range of diseases which often involve a perturbation of the normal proliferative capacity of the infected host cell. In many cases, retroviruses are able to induce neoplastic transformation. Because retroviruses are small, encoding only three structural genes, it has long been a mystery as to how they cause such dramatic effects on their host cells. At least in some cases, retroviruses become tumorigenic by acquiring host genes in place of some or all of their own. The host genes that they acquire are called cellular oncogenes, and the viral forms are known as viral oncogenes. Retroviruses are able to transduce cellular genes with some frequency because they have to integrate into the host cell's genome as part of their life cycle. However, many retroviruses are tumorigenic, yet show no evidence of foreign genetic material within their genomes. It is thought that these viruses induce tumours by activating cellular oncogenes in situ. In many cases, the expression of retrovirus-encoded proteins on the surface of the transformed cell occurs, and thus these retrovirus antigens can, in some cases, be suggestive of restroviral transformation. We discuss the association of retroviral antigens with, primarily, lymphoid tumours in the mouse and human. We also describe the role that such antigens may have in the actual leukaemogenic process in certain murine leukaemias.

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