Infection and Cancer: Viral Oncogenesis Flashcards
What is transformation?
loss of control in vitro
What are the characteristics associated with transformation?
loss of contact inhibition; loss of telomere-induced growth limit; loss of anchorage dependece; reduced need fro growth factors
What is oncogenesis?
loss of growth control in vivo
What is the significance of loss of anchorage dependece in transformation?
ability to metastasise
What are the factors that determine an association of a virus with cancer?
is the tumour associated with infection by pathogen- epidemiology; is the virus/genome found in the tumour- is it monoclonal?; is it found in all cells of the tumour- or a defined subset; are viral genes expressed or viral products found?
What are the factors which help determine causation of a virus causing cancer?
do expressed viral genes show oncogenic activity? Is virus necessary for the tumoue; does remission correlate with loss of pathogen; does it cause tumours when introdcued; is viral immunity protective?
What is the baltimore classification based on?
classifying viruses according to their genomes
What are the prodominant Baltimore classes associated with viral oncology?
class 1- dsDNA and class 6- retroviral (hepB and hepC are different)
How much of total cancer incidence worlwide is due to infecitous agents?
15%
Give an example of an animal virus carrying an oncogene?
rous sarcoma virus was found to have picked up v-Src gene into its retroviral genome
What is the function of SV40 large T antigen?
modulates Rb and p53 function - don’t get p21 being produced; preents binding of E2F to Rb
What is the result of SV40 large T antigen?
unregulated progression through the S phase
What is fundamental about the survival of viruses in terms of causing cancer?
must be able to presistent in rapidly dividing cancer cells- keep its genome in the diving cells
How do EBV and HPV maintain their genome in cancer cells?
episomally- independent of the human genome like extra chromosome
How do HBV and HCV maintain their genome?
through chronic replication
What is often required for viruses who maintain their viruses through episomes?
have very specific functions for maintenance e.g EBV replicates during S phase and has a protein to hook its genome onto the sister chromatids during separation
What determines the type of cancer caused by the virus?
reflects the virus life cycle
Why do viruses cause cancer more often in the immunsuppressed?
viruses are immunogenic- immunsuppression prevents proper control
What shows that no virus life-cycle requires oncogensis?
ALV >95% of chickens are positive whereas <3% of old birds develop leuakaemia
When do viruses usually cause cancer in the host?
with low efficiency and a long time after infection
What is the difference in chronicity between HBV and HCV?
10% of HBV infections become chronic vs 80% in HCV
What is the difference in deaths caused by HBV and HCV?
HBV- HCC whereas HCV is more likely to cause cirrhossi
What is the difference between chronic hepatitis and an asymptomatic carrier?
in chronic hepatitis the immune system is aware of the infection and there is chronic inflammation
How does HBV cause cancer in asymptomatic carriers?
direct oncogenesis
What is the mechanism by which hepatitis viruses cause cancer?
through tumour-promoting inflammation- drives tissue damage
Which 2 forms of HPV cause cervical cancer?
16 and 18
What is the general life cycle of HPV?
there is alesion which allows HPV to infect the basal epithelial layer, as epithelial cells differentiate, the virus expressed different genes and increases viral replication, when cell dies, there is viral release
What are the early genes expressed by HPV?
E6, E7, E1, E2
What are the late genes expressed with HPV?
L1, L2 and L4
What is the result of 80% of HPV infection?
clearance
What are the steps in the virus leading to carcinoma with HPV?
integration and E6/E7 over-expression; MHC-1 loss and then increased telomerase and tumour-suppressor gene loss
What may be the reason that 16 and 18 are more assocaited with cancer?
they have high risk E6 which causes degradation of p53 vs low risk E6 which blocks p53 transcription activation so some still happens
What are the functions of E6 and E7?
E6- interacts with p53, E7- prevents Rb binding to E2F
Why do HPV and other viruses target p53 and Rb?
DNA viruses rely on the S phase environment in order to replicate their genome effectively; interactions with p53 and Rb prevent their suppression of this phase
What is seen with p53 mutations in cervical cancer?
in HPV neg- p53 is mutant whereas in HPV pos, p53 is wild type
How does HPV integration act as an oncogenic mechanism?
it is circular genome, when integrates becomes linear. E2 governs the promoter of E6 and E7, when integrated E2 is dysregulated
What is seen with episomal tumour HPV?
have promoter mutations in E6 and E7 resulting in the same consequence as E2 disruption with integration
What principle of viral oncogenesis does the dysregulation of E2 with integration demonstrate?
virus only causes cancer once the viral genome is damaged
How has the efficacy of the HPV vaccines been monitored?
reduction in genital warts
What virus produced T antigen?
merkel cell polyomavirus
How many human cancers is EBV implicated in?
approx 1%
How much of the human population has EBV?
asymptomatic and persistent infection in >90%
What is latenency III programme of EBV?
all EBNAs and LMP1 and 2
When is latency III expressed in EBV?
in the B blast
What is the function of EBNA1?
ensures virus is segragated into all daughter cells