Publikationsdatenbank

High prevalence of recombinant porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERV-A/Cs) in minipigs:
a review on origin and presence (2021)

Art

Zeitschriftenartikel / wissenschaftlicher Beitrag

Autoren

Denner, Joachim (WE 5)

Schuurman, Hendrik Jan

Quelle

Viruses

Bandzählung: 13

Heftzählung: 9

Seiten: Artikel 1869

ISSN: 1999-4915

Sprache

Englisch

Verweise

URL (Volltext): https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/13/9/1869

DOI: 10.3390/v13091869

Pubmed: 34578447

Kontakt

Institut für Virologie

Robert-von-Ostertag-Str. 7-13
14163 Berlin
+49 30 838 51833
virologie@vetmed.fu-berlin.de

Abstract / Zusammenfassung

Minipigs play an important role in biomedical research and they have also been used as donor animals for preclinical xenotransplantations. Since zoonotic microorganisms including viruses can be transmitted when pig cells, tissues or organs are transplanted, virus safety is an important feature in xenotransplantation. Whereas most porcine viruses can be eliminated from pig herds by different strategies, this is not possible for porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs). PERVs are integrated in the genome of pigs and some of them release infectious particles able to infect human cells. Whereas PERV-A and PERV-B are present in all pigs and can infect cells from humans and other species, PERV-C is present in most, but not all pigs and infects only pig cells. Recombinant viruses between PERV-A and PERV-C have been found in some pigs; these recombinants infect human cells and are characterized by high replication rates. PERV-A/C recombinants have been found mainly in minipigs of different origin. The possible reasons of this high prevalence of PERV-A/C in minipigs, including inbreeding and higher numbers and expression of replication-competent PERV-C in these animals, are discussed in this review. Based on these data, it is highly recommended to use only pig donors in clinical xenotransplantation that are negative for PERV-C.