Open AccessEvidence for a protein related immunologically to the jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus in some human lung tumours
Author(s) -
De las Heras M.,
Barsky S.H.,
Hasleton P.,
Wagner M.,
Larson E.,
Egan J.,
Ortin A.,
GimenezMas J.A.,
Palmarini M,
Sharp J.M
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
european respiratory journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.021
H-Index - 241
eISSN - 1399-3003
pISSN - 0903-1936
DOI - 10.1034/j.1399-3003.2000.16b23.x
Subject(s) - retrovirus , biology , virology , lung , capsid , pathology , antiserum , immunohistochemistry , virus , antibody , immunology , medicine
Human bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC) is a lung cancer, morphologically similar to an endemic contagious lung neoplasm of sheep called sheep pulmonary adenomatosis (SPA) or jaagsiekte. SPA is caused by an exogenous type B/D retrovirus (jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV)), which prompted the present study to obtain evidence of a retrovirus in BAC. A panel of 249 human lung tumours, 21 nontumour lung lesions, four normal lung tissues, 23 adenocarcinomas from other organs and a cell line expressing a human endogenous retrovirus protein was examined immunohistochemically using a rabbit antiserum directed against the JSRV capsid protein. Specific staining was detected only in the cytoplasm of recognizably neoplastic cells in the pulmonary alveoli of 39 of 129 (30%) BACs, 17 of 65 (26%) lung adenocarcinomas and two of seven large cell carcinomas. The remaining samples were negative. These results support the hypothesis that some human pulmonary tumours may be associated with a jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus‐related retrovirus, warranting further studies.