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An oncovirus or oncogenic virus is a virus that can cause cancer. [4] This term originated from studies of acutely transforming retroviruses in the 1950–60s, [ 5 ] when the term oncornaviruses was used to denote their RNA virus origin. [ 6 ]
Viruses that are known to cause cancer such as HPV (cervical cancer), Hepatitis B (liver cancer), and EBV (a type of lymphoma), are all DNA viruses. It is thought that when the virus infects a cell, it inserts a part of its own DNA near the cell growth genes, causing cell division.
Cancer cells and virus-infected cells have similar alterations in their cell signalling pathways, particularly those that govern progression through the cell cycle. [84] A viral gene whose function is to alter a pathway is dispensable in cells where the pathway is defective, but not in cells where the pathway is active. [citation needed]
Depending on the virus, a variety of genetic changes can occur in the host cell. In the case of a lytic cycle virus, the cell will only survive long enough to the replication machinery to be used to create additional viral units. In other cases, the viral DNA will persist within the host cell and replicate as the cell replicates.
Herpesviruses also cause cancer in animals, especially leukemias and lymphomas. [13] Human T cell lymphotropic virus was the first human retrovirus discovered by Robert Gallo and colleagues at NIH. [20] The virus causes Adult T-cell leukemia, a disease first described by Takatsuki and colleagues in Japan [21] and other neurological diseases ...
Illustration of how a normal cell is converted to a cancer cell, when an oncogene becomes activated. An oncogene is a gene that has the potential to cause cancer. [1] In tumor cells, these genes are often mutated, or expressed at high levels. [2]
The src gene is oncogenic as it triggers uncontrolled growth in abnormal host cells. It was the first retroviral oncogene to be discovered. [1] The src gene was taken up by RSV and incorporated into its genome [2] conferring it with the advantage of being able to stimulate uncontrolled mitosis of host cells, providing abundant cells for fresh ...
Many viruses replicate by altering the cell cycle and exploiting the same pathways that are altered in cancer cells. [43] E1B proteins produced by adenoviruses protect the infected cell by binding to and degrading the p53 transcription factors, [44] preventing it from targeting the cell for apoptosis. This allows the virus to replicate, package ...