1887

Journal of General Virology header logo

Volume 98, Issue 6

Frequent detection of Merkel cell polyomavirus DNA in tissues from 10 consecutive autopsies Free

Abstract

Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) has been identified in samples of Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), an aggressive skin cancer. Seroepidemiologic studies indicated a high frequency of MCPyV infection in humans, suggesting respiratory and faecal–oral routes, or transmission by skin contact. Since MCC is more frequent in immunocompromised patients, a reactivation of MCPyV latently infecting target cells has been proposed. However, neither definite ways of transmission nor specific target organs have been identified with certainty. Ten autopsies with an extensive organ sampling for a total of 121 specimens (tissue and blood samples) were collected. All tissue specimens were fixed in formalin and embedded in paraffin. Real-time PCR was performed to quantify the copy number of the large T antigen (LT) gene and the capsid VP1 gene of MCPyV. MCPyV LT and/or VP genes were detected in all of the collected specimens. A high prevalence of MCPyV was found in the blood (six cases) and lung (five cases); the brain was positive in three cases. The highest viral copy number was detected in blood from two autopsies (21 610 570.09 copies per 10 cells and 380 413.25 copies per 10 cells), whereas the viral copy number in the other organs was low. Our data confirm the high frequency of MCPyV infection in the general population, which seems to indicate that the respiratory tract is a possible route for viral transmission and viral persistence in the brain. The frequent detection of MCPyV DNA in blood suggests that circulating leukocytes could be one of the reservoirs of MCPyV, whereas the high viral copy number also seems to indicate the possibility of viral reactivation in immunocompetent adults.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): Autopsies , Autopsy , MCPyV LT gene , MCPyV VP gene , Merkel cell polyomavirus and qPCR
© 2017 The Authors
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/jgv.0.000778
2017-06-01
2024-04-24
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/jgv/98/6/1372.html?itemId=/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/jgv.0.000778&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Feng H, Shuda M, Chang Y, Moore PS. Clonal integration of a polyomavirus in human Merkel cell carcinoma. Science 2008; 319:1096–1100 [View Article][PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Engels EA, Frisch M, Goedert JJ, Biggar RJ, Miller RW. Merkel cell carcinoma and HIV infection. The Lancet 2002; 359:497–498 [View Article]
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Nicol JT, Robinot R, Carpentier A, Carandina G, Mazzoni E et al. Age-specific seroprevalences of Merkel cell polyomavirus, human polyomaviruses 6, 7, and 9, and trichodysplasia spinulosa-associated polyomavirus. Clin Vaccine Immunol 2013; 20:363–368 [View Article][PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Signorini L, Belingheri M, Ambrogi F, Pagani E, Binda S et al. High frequency of Merkel cell polyomavirus DNA in the urine of kidney transplant recipients and healthy controls. J Clin Virol 2014; 61:565–570 [View Article][PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Pastrana DV, Tolstov YL, Becker JC, Moore PS, Chang Y et al. Quantitation of human seroresponsiveness to Merkel cell polyomavirus. PLoS Pathog 2009; 5:e1000578 [View Article][PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Bergallo M, Costa C, Terlizzi ME, Astegiano S, Curtoni A et al. Quantitative detection of the new polyomaviruses KI, WU and Merkel cell virus in transbronchial biopsies from lung transplant recipients. J Clin Pathol 2010; 63:722–725 [View Article][PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Loyo M, Guerrero-Preston R, Brait M, Hoque MO, Chuang A et al. Quantitative detection of Merkel cell virus in human tissues and possible mode of transmission. Int J Cancer 2010; 126:2991–2996 [View Article]
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Matsushita M, Kuwamoto S, Iwasaki T, Higaki-Mori H, Yashima S et al. Detection of Merkel cell polyomavirus in the human tissues from 41 Japanese autopsy cases using polymerase chain reaction. Intervirology 2013; 56:1–5 [View Article][PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Carter JJ, Paulson KG, Wipf GC, Miranda D, Madeleine MM et al. Association of Merkel cell polyomavirus-specific antibodies with Merkel cell carcinoma. J Natl Cancer Inst 2009; 101:1510–1522 [View Article][PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Touzé A, Gaitan J, Arnold F, Cazal R, Fleury MJ et al. Generation of Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV)-like particles and their application to detection of MCV antibodies. J Clin Microbiol 2010; 48:1767–1770 [View Article][PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Faust H, Pastrana DV, Buck CB, Dillner J, Ekström J. Antibodies to Merkel cell polyomavirus correlate to presence of viral DNA in the skin. J Infect Dis 2011; 203:1096–1100 [View Article][PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Viscidi RP, Rollison DE, Sondak VK, Silver B, Messina JL et al. Age-specific seroprevalence of Merkel cell polyomavirus, BK virus, and JC virus. Clin Vaccine Immunol 2011; 18:1737–1743 [View Article][PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Stolt A, Sasnauskas K, Koskela P, Lehtinen M, Dillner J. Seroepidemiology of the human polyomaviruses. J Gen Virol 2003; 84:1499–1504 [View Article][PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Goh S, Lindau C, Tiveljung-Lindell A, Allander T. Merkel cell polyomavirus in respiratory tract secretions. Emerg Infect Dis 2009; 15:489–491 [View Article][PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Bialasiewicz S, Lambert SB, Whiley DM, Nissen MD, Sloots TP. Merkel cell polyomavirus DNA in respiratory specimens from children and adults. Emerg Infect Dis 2009; 15:492–494 [View Article][PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Campello C, Comar M, D'Agaro P, Minicozzi A, Rodella L et al. A molecular case-control study of the Merkel cell polyomavirus in colon cancer. J Med Virol 2011; 83:721–724 [View Article][PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Shuda M, Arora R, Kwun HJ, Feng H, Sarid R et al. Human Merkel cell polyomavirus infection I. MCV T antigen expression in Merkel cell carcinoma, lymphoid tissues and lymphoid tumors. Int J Cancer 2009; 125:1243–1249 [View Article][PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Babakir-Mina M, Ciccozzi M, Lo Presti A, Greco F, Perno CF et al. Identification of Merkel cell polyomavirus in the lower respiratory tract of italian patients. J Med Virol 2010; 82:505–509 [View Article][PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Schowalter RM, Pastrana DV, Pumphrey KA, Moyer AL, Buck CB. Merkel cell polyomavirus and two previously unknown polyomaviruses are chronically shed from human skin. Cell Host Microbe 2010; 7:509–515 [View Article][PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Lam WY, Leung BW, Chu IM, Chan AC, Ng HK et al. Survey for the presence of BK, JC, KI, WU and Merkel cell polyomaviruses in human brain tissues. J Clin Virol 2010; 48:11–14 [View Article][PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Oh J, Byrd AL, Park M. NISC Comparative Sequencing Program Kong HH et al. Temporal stability of the human skin microbiome. Cell 2016; 165:854–866 [View Article][PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Pancaldi C, Corazzari V, Maniero S, Mazzoni E, Comar M et al. Merkel cell polyomavirus DNA sequences in the buffy coats of healthy blood donors. Blood 2011; 117:7099–7101 [View Article][PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Bhatia K, Goedert JJ, Modali R, Preiss L, Ayers LW. Merkel cell carcinoma subgroups by Merkel cell polyomavirus DNA relative abundance and oncogene expression. Int J Cancer 2010; 126:2240–2246 [View Article]
     [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/jgv.0.000778
Loading
Frequent detection of Merkel cell polyomavirus DNA in tissues from 10 consecutive autopsies
J. Gen. Virol. 98, 1372 (2017); https://doi.org/10.1099/jgv.0.000778
/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/jgv.0.000778
/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/jgv.0.000778
Loading

Data & Media loading...

Most cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error