FOAMY VIRUSES

Foamy viruses share complex genome organization with lentiviruses and certain oncoviruses. The open reading frame 3' of env encodes a transcriptional transactivator. Distinct responsive sequences were identified in the long terminal repeats (LTRs) of simian (SFV-1 and SFV-3) and human foamy viruses (HFV). Transactivation of heterologous LTRs was described including those of simian and human immunodeficiency viruses. Foamy viruses persist for the whole lifetime in infected hosts (primates, cats, hamsters, cattle, and probably other mammals). The virus may be orally shed and transmitted, while being latent in various internal organs. Selective viral gene expression in the brains of mice transgenic for HFV has suggested a particular relationship to neural tissue. In latently SFV-3-infected cultured cells, methylation of proviral DNA is apparently involved in the control of latency. Demethylation as well as transfection with the transactivator were shown to be instrumental in viral reactivation. Natural infections with foamy viruses are common, elicit strong immune responses, and seem to be asymptomatic in nonhuman primates. Detection of such infections, however, may not be a triviality in man. While accidental transmission of foamy viruses to man is well documented, reported seroprevalence in human populations and the association of HFV with specific pathology (e.g. thyroiditis de Quervain, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Graves' disease) are controversial and remain to be proven.