The human leukaemia virus HTLV-1 expresses essential Background accessory genes that manipulate the expression, splicing and transport of viral mRNAs. Two of these genes, and , also promote proliferation of the tax hbz infected cell, and both genes are thought to contribute to oncogenesis in adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma. The regulation of HTLV-1 proviral latency is not understood. on...

The human leukaemia virus HTLV-1 expresses essential Background accessory genes that manipulate the expression, splicing and transport of viral mRNAs. Two of these genes, and , also promote proliferation of the tax hbz infected cell, and both genes are thought to contribute to oncogenesis in adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma. The regulation of HTLV-1 proviral latency is not understood. on...

Background: The human leukaemia virus HTLV-1 expresses essential accessory genes that manipulate the expression, splicing and transport of viral mRNAs.  Two of these genes, tax and hbz, also promote proliferation of the infected cell, and both genes are thought to contribute to oncogenesis in adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma.  The regulation of HTLV-1 proviral latency is not understood.  tax, on...

Human T-cell Lymphotropic Virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is a human retrovirus that infects at least 5-10 million people worldwide, and is the etiological agent of a lymphoproliferative malignancy; Adult T-cell Leukemia/Lymphoma (ATLL); and a chronic neuromyelopathy, HTLV-1 Associated Myelopathy/Tropical Spastic Paraparesis (HAM/TSP), as well as other inflammatory diseases such as infective dermatitis a...

HTLV-1 plus-strand transcription begins with the production of doubly-spliced tax/rex transcripts, the levels of which are usually undetectable in freshly isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from HTLV-1-infected individuals. However, the presence of a sustained chronically active cytotoxic T-cell response to HTLV-1 antigens in virtually all HTLV-1-infected individuals, regardles...

We previously demonstrated that CD4(+)CD25(+) T regulatory cells (Tregs), important for the maintenance of immune tolerance and prevention of autoimmune disease, from patients with human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I)-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) exhibit reduced Foxp3 expression and Treg suppressor function compared with healthy donors. Since TGF-beta signa...

HTLV-1 infection is associated with several inflammatory disorders, including the neurodegenerative condition HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). It is unclear why a minority of infected subjects develop HAM/TSP. The cellular immune response has been implicated in the development of inflammatory alterations in these patients; however the pathogenic mechanisms fo...

BACKGROUND The Human T-Lymphotropic Virus type 1c subtype (HTLV-1c) is highly endemic to central Australia where the most frequent complication of HTLV-1 infection in Indigenous Australians is bronchiectasis. We carried out a prospective study to quantify the prognosis of HTLV-1c infection and chronic lung disease and the risk of death according to the HTLV-1c proviral load (pVL). METHODOLOGY...