A Novel Human Polyomavirus Closely Related to the African Green Monkey-Derived Lymphotropic Polyomavirus

Abstract

We identified a novel human polyomavirus from a kidney transplant patient under immunosuppressive treatment, by use of a generic PCR. The genome of the virus was completely amplified and sequenced. In phylogenetic analyses, it appeared as the closest relative to the African green monkey-derived lymphotropic polyomavirus (LPV). Further investigation of clinical samples from immunocompromised patients with specific nested PCR revealed additional positive samples, indicating that the virus naturally infects humans. The virus was tentatively named human polyomavirus 9 (HPyV9). The previously observed seroreactivity to LPV in human populations might find a partial explanation in the circulation of HPyV9.

Large T antigen variants of human polyomaviruses 9 and 12 and seroreactivity against their N terminus

“…1b) and respective splice sites ( Table 2). The STAg CDS had been predicted as unspliced [48] (Fig. 1a).…”

“…We recently discovered two hitherto unknown human polyomaviruses, human polyomavirus 9 (HPyV9) in the serum of a kidney transplant recipient in 2011 [48], and human polyomavirus 12 (HPyV12) in metastatic liver tissue of patients with colorectal cancer [49]. Both viruses are circulating in the human population, as seroprevalences of 20-70 % against VP1 of HPyV9 have been readily detected in several studies, and for HPyV12 a VP1-based seroprevalence of 23 % was reported.…”

“…Genomes of HPyV9 (HQ696595; [48]) and HPyV12 (JX308829; [49]) were commercially synthesized and delivered inserted into a plasmid (MrGene and Biomatik, respectively). For transfection, the genomes were excised from the plasmid and re-ligated.…”

The human polyomaviruses: from orphans and mutants to patchwork family

“…Whereas HPyV6 and HPyV7 were first detected on skin of healthy subjects (23), HPyV9 was found is a serum sample of a kidney transplant patient (24). HPyV10 was identified in papillomavirus-induced anal condylomata (25) and the Malawi polyomavirus (MWPyV) and the MX polyomavirus (MXPyV), both identified in stool samples, are variants of HPyV10 (26,27).…”

Characterising the pathogenesis and biology of newly described human polyomaviruses

“…[159], [260] MCPyV DNA is detected in 75% of environmental swabs, and can still be detected after DNAse digestion, suggesting that like HPyV6,7 & 9, MCPyV is shed as whole virions from healthy human skin. [9], [167], [260] Therefore contamination of samples with MCPyV from the environment and healthy skin is likely, and detection of MCPyV DNA from different sites, particularly the skin is likely to be overestimated.…”