Merkel Cell Polyomavirus Infection Induces an Antiviral Innate Immune Response in Human Dermal Fibroblasts.

ABSTRACT: Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) infects most of the human population asymptomatically, but in rare cases it leads to a highly aggressive skin cancer called Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). MCC incidence is much higher in aging and immunocompromised populations. The epidemiology of MCC suggests that dysbiosis between the host immune response and the MCPyV infectious cycle could contribute to the development of MCPyV-associated MCC. Insufficient restriction of MCPyV by normal cellular processes, for example, could promote the incidental oncogenic MCPyV integration events and/or entry into the original cell of MCC. Progress toward understanding MCPyV biology has been hindered by its narrow cellular tropism. Our discovery that primary human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) support MCPyV infection has ma

SUBMITTER: Krump NA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8437356 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature