TY - JOUR
T1 - The current status and future directions of myxoma virus, a master in immune evasion
AU - Spiesschaert, Bart
AU - McFadden, Grant
AU - Hermans, Katleen
AU - Nauwynck, Hans
AU - Van De Walle, Gerlinde R.
N1 - Funding Information:
GM’s lab is supported by grants from NIAID (R01 AI080607-01A1), NCI (R01 CA138541-01 and R21 CA149869) and the Bankhead-Coley Foundation (1BT02). GVdW is a postdoctoral fellow of the FWO Flanders. We would also like to thank Jia Liu and Masmudur Rahman for proof-reading the manuscript.
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - Myxoma virus (MYXV) gained importance throughout the twentieth century because of the use of the highly virulent Standard Laboratory Strain (SLS) by the Australian government in the attempt to control the feral Australian population of Oryctolagus cuniculus (European rabbit) and the subsequent illegal release of MYXV in Europe. In the European rabbit, MYXV causes a disease with an exceedingly high mortality rate, named myxomatosis, which is passively transmitted by biting arthropod vectors. MYXV still has a great impact on European rabbit populations around the world. In contrast, only a single cutaneous lesion, restricted to the point of inoculation, is seen in its natural long-term host, the South-American Sylvilagus brasiliensis and the North-American S. Bachmani. Apart from being detrimental for European rabbits, however, MYXV has also become of interest in human medicine in the last two decades for two reasons. Firstly, due to the strong immune suppressing effects of certain MYXV proteins, several secreted virus-encoded immunomodulators (e.g. Serp-1) are being developed to treat systemic inflammatory syndromes such as cardiovascular disease in humans. Secondly, due to the inherent ability of MYXV to infect a broad spectrum of human cancer cells, the live virus is also being developed as an oncolytic virotherapeutic to treat human cancer. In this review, an update will be given on the current status of MYXV in rabbits as well as its potential in human medicine in the twenty-first century.
AB - Myxoma virus (MYXV) gained importance throughout the twentieth century because of the use of the highly virulent Standard Laboratory Strain (SLS) by the Australian government in the attempt to control the feral Australian population of Oryctolagus cuniculus (European rabbit) and the subsequent illegal release of MYXV in Europe. In the European rabbit, MYXV causes a disease with an exceedingly high mortality rate, named myxomatosis, which is passively transmitted by biting arthropod vectors. MYXV still has a great impact on European rabbit populations around the world. In contrast, only a single cutaneous lesion, restricted to the point of inoculation, is seen in its natural long-term host, the South-American Sylvilagus brasiliensis and the North-American S. Bachmani. Apart from being detrimental for European rabbits, however, MYXV has also become of interest in human medicine in the last two decades for two reasons. Firstly, due to the strong immune suppressing effects of certain MYXV proteins, several secreted virus-encoded immunomodulators (e.g. Serp-1) are being developed to treat systemic inflammatory syndromes such as cardiovascular disease in humans. Secondly, due to the inherent ability of MYXV to infect a broad spectrum of human cancer cells, the live virus is also being developed as an oncolytic virotherapeutic to treat human cancer. In this review, an update will be given on the current status of MYXV in rabbits as well as its potential in human medicine in the twenty-first century.
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U2 - 10.1186/1297-9716-42-76
DO - 10.1186/1297-9716-42-76
M3 - Review article
C2 - 21658227
AN - SCOPUS:80051988043
SN - 0928-4249
VL - 42
JO - Veterinary Research
JF - Veterinary Research
IS - 1
M1 - 76
ER -