Transmission of Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus Type 1 to Mice |
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| Authors: | Jianhua Fang Shigeki Kushida Renqing Feng Masakazu Tanaka Tomonori Kawamura Hideaki Abe Naoyoshi Maeda Makoto Onobori Mituo Hori Kazuhiko Uchida Masanao Miwa |
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| Affiliation: | Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Oncology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences and Center for Tsukuba Advanced Research Alliance, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305, Japan. |
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| Abstract: | Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is associated with adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma, HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis, and other diseases. For prevention of the transmission of HTLV-1 and manifestation of these diseases, a small-animal model, especially a mouse model, would be useful. We injected HTLV-1-producing T cells (MT-2) intraperitoneally into neonatal C3H/HeJ mice. While the antibody against HTLV-1 antigens was not detectable in C3H/HeJ mice, HTLV-1 provirus was frequently detected in the spleen, lymph nodes, and thymus by PCR. HTLV-1 provirus was present at the level of 0 to 30 molecules in 105 spleen cells at the age of 15 weeks. In addition, a 59-bp flanking sequence of the HTLV-1 integration site was amplified from the spleen DNA by linker-mediated PCR and was confirmed to be derived from the mouse genome. HTLV-1 provirus was found in the T-cell fraction of the mouse spleen. These results indicate that mice can be infected by HTLV-1 and could serve as an animal model for the study of HTLV-1 infection and its pathogenesis in vivo. |
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