Retroviruses and Insights into Cancer (Springer Series in Language and Communication ; V. 1)

Retroviruses cause chronic infections and insertion mutations in their hosts, often leading to the appearance of tumors. Studies of retrovirus-induced tumors have led to our understanding of many crucial concepts in cell and cancer biology, including the discoveries of reverse transcriptase, viral oncogenes, cellular proto-oncogenes and signal transduction pathways. This monograph provides an intriguing set of chapters on the many facets of retroviral involvement in cancers arising in a variety of organisms from fish to humans. Each chapter is written by experts in the field and relates recent work to previous experimental data. Retroviruses use many different mechanisms to induce cancers, ranging from activation of microRNAs, inactivation of tumor suppressor genes, activation or modifications of proto-oncogenes, as well as expression of viral proteins that manipulate cell signaling and the immune system. In recent years, retroviruses have been used as tools, not only for the characterization of cellular pathways, but also as vectors to deliver therapeutic or engineered genes. This knowledge is all the more startling due to the revelation that nearly 10% of the human genome consists of endogenous retroviruses, including many that are transcriptionally active. The emergence of new endogenous retroviruses causing lethal leukemias in koalas and, potentially, prostate cancer in humans ensures that the unique interactions of these viruses with their hosts will continue to fascinate and illuminate us. Front Matter....Pages i-xii Overview of Retrovirology....Pages 1-30 Mechanisms of Oncogenesis by Retroviruses....Pages 31-52 Deregulation of Signal Transduction Pathways by Oncogenic Retroviruses....Pages 53-94 Genetics of Host Resistance to Retroviruses and Cancer....Pages 95-118 Endogenous Retroviruses and Cancer....Pages 119-162 Retroviruses and Insights into Cancer: Retroviral Regulatory/Accessory Genes and Cancer....Pages 163-189 Cancers Induced by Piscine Retroviruses....Pages 191-218 The Immune Response to Oncogenic Retroviruses....Pages 219-258 Retrovirus-induced Immunodeficiency and Cancer....Pages 259-283 Retroviruses as Tools to Identify Oncogenes and Tumor Suppressor Genes....Pages 285-305 Emerging Retroviruses and Cancer....Pages 307-333 Back Matter....Pages 335-363 This book will contain a series of review articles that focus on retro viral models of human and animal cancers. Each article will be written by an expert in the field of retro virology. The reviews will summarize current work on a particular retrovirus, with particular emphasis on the relevance of this research to human disease Wolfgang Klein, Norbert Dittmar. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. [213]-217.