Adult T-cell lymphoma (ATL) is a hematological malignancy of CD4+ mature T-lymphocytes commonly associated with chronic human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-1) infection. Chronic HTLV-1 infection induces oncogenic mutations in T-cells, leading to an acute malignant transformation host cells. Atypically, ATL presents dermatological and pulmonary symptoms consistent “smoldering” disease patter...

Human T lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) causes disabling and fatal diseases, yet there is no vaccine, no satisfactory treatment, and no means of assessing the risk of disease or prognosis in infected people. Recent research on the molecular virology and immunology of HTLV-1 shows the importance of the host's immune response in reducing the risk of these diseases, and is beginning to explain ...

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) laboratory strains adapted to T-cell lines, as well as most syncytium-inducing primary isolates, replicate poorly in macrophages, which, beside CD4(+) T lymphocytes, are major targets of HIV-1. In the present work, we used a semiquantitative PCR-based technique to study viral entry into cells, kinetics of reverse transcription, and translocation o...

Almost 40 years ago, the first pathogenic human retrovirus was discovered and shown to cause a T-cell leukemia in humans (Poiesz et al., 1980a, 1981). Thus, a new paradigm was established showing that a virus can directly cause cancer in humans. At that time, the only other suspected case was the connection between the Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) and Burkitt’s Lymphoma and later nasopharyngeal car...

Infectious agents are common companions of humans and since ancient times they follow human migration on their search for a better place to live. The study of paleomicrobiology was significantly improved in its accuracy of measurement with the constant development of better methods to detect and analyze nucleic acids. Human tissues are constantly used to trace ancient infections and the associa...

Epstein-Barr virus, a B-lymphotropic human herpesvirus, persists in vivo by entering the long-lived memory B-cell compartment. Work with genetically modified mice suggests that the viral latent membrane protein LMP1 might allow infected B cells to access the memory compartment by an unusual route.