Publications

frequent detection of merkel cell polyomavirus in human merkel cell carcinomas and identification of a unique deletion in the vp1 gene.	merkel cell carcinoma (mcc) is a rare but very aggressive human malignancy of the elderly or immunosuppressed patients. recently, the clonal integration of a new human polyoma virus, which was termed merkel cell polyomavirus (mcpyv), has been reported in 8 of 10 mcc patients. in the present study, we studied the formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue specimens of 39 mcc for the presence of mcpyv by pcr. we applied four different primer sets directed against the large t antigen and the vp1 g ...	2008	18593898
merkel cell polyomavirus in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma of immunocompetent individuals.	squamous cell carcinoma (scc) is the second most frequently diagnosed skin cancer. it has a higher incidence in immunosuppressed individuals such as organ transplant recipients and human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) carriers. recently, a newly described polyoma virus, merkel cell polyomavirus (mcpyv), was found in merkel cell carcinoma (mcc), a rare aggressive skin cancer also associated with immunosuppression. we hypothesized that mcpyv would be present in sccs. to test for the presence of mcpy ...	2009	19554019
merkel cell polyomavirus small t antigen mrna level is increased following in vivo uv-radiation.	merkel cell carcinoma (mcc) is a rare but aggressive skin cancer involving merkel cells. recently, a new human polyomavirus was implicated in mcc, being present in 80% of the samples analyzed. in virus-positive mcc, the merkel cell polyomavirus (mcpyv) is clonally integrated into the patients dna, and carries mutations in its large t antigen, leading to a truncated protein. in non-symptomatic tissue mcpyv can reside at very low levels. mcc is also associated with older age, immunosuppression and ...	2010	20625394
tumor viruses and cancer biology: modulating signaling pathways for therapeutic intervention.	tumor viruses have provided relatively simple genetic systems, which can be manipulated for understanding the molecular mechanisms of the cellular transformation process. a growing body of information in the tumor virology field provides several prospects for rationally targeted therapies. however, further research is needed to better understand the multiple mechanisms utilized by these viruses in cancer progression in order to develop therapeutic strategies. initially viruses were believed to b ...	2010	21084867
high levels of antibodies against merkel cell polyomavirus identify a subset of patients with merkel cell carcinoma with better clinical outcome.	a new human polyomavirus, merkel cell polyomavirus (mcv), was identified in 2008 in tumor tissue of patients with merkel cell carcinoma (mcc), a relatively rare human skin cancer. in this study, we investigated patients with mcc and controls for the presence of antibodies against mcv and their association with clinical characteristics.	2011	21422439
positive correlation between merkel cell polyomavirus viral load and capsid-specific antibody titer.	merkel cell polyomavirus (mcpyv or mcv) is the first polyomavirus to be clearly implicated as a causal agent underlying a human cancer, merkel cell carcinoma (mcc). infection with mcpyv is common in the general population, and a majority of adults shed mcpyv from the surface of their skin. in this study, we quantitated mcpyv dna in skin swab specimens from healthy volunteers sampled at different anatomical sites over time periods ranging from 3 months to 4 years. the volunteers were also tested ...	2011	21614514
human polyomaviruses 6 and 7 are not detectable in merkel cell polyomavirus-negative merkel cell carcinoma.	merkel cell carcinoma (mcc) has a high degree of association with merkel cell polyomavirus (mcpyv). however, no reliable microscopic, clinical, phenotypic or molecular differences have been identified that distinguish mcpyv-positive from mcpyv-negative mcc, raising the possibility that a related polyomavirus may be present in mcpyv-negative cases. recently, two additional human polyomaviruses, human polyomaviruses 6 and 7 (hpyv6 and hpyv7), were shown to be present in normal skin of healthy subj ...	2011	21883367