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Pathogenesis and Immunology of Cytomegalovirus

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 October 2024) | Viewed by 2045

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Guest Editor
1. Department of Surgery, Medicine, Dentistry and Morphological Sciences with Interest in Transplantation, Oncology and Regenerative Medicine, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
2. Department of Laboratory Medicine and Anatomical Pathology, University Hospital of Modena—Polyclinic, Modena, Italy
Interests: pathology oncology gynecology; human papilloma virus (HPV); epstein–barr virus (EBV); human herpes virus 8 (HHV8); coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS); middle east respiratory syndrome (MERS); nipah virus ebola virus
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cytomegalovirus (CMV), alias human herpes virus 5 (HHV5), is a double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) virus contagious to humans via saliva, urine, blood, and breast milk. First observed by the German pathologist Hugo Ribbert in 1881, when he noticed, under the microscope, mega-cells with enlarged nuclei containing a so called owl's eye inclusion in an affected infant, the American virologist Thomas Huckle Weller isolated the virus between 1956 and 1957. In 1990, the first draft of the human CMV genome was published, the biggest contiguous genome sequenced at that time. Today, CMV is still the virus most frequently transmitted to a developing fetus, and congenital CMV, the leading infectious cause of deafness, learning disabilities, and intellectual disability in children, can even be deadly. In fact, CMV infection is typically silent in healthy subjects, but it can become life-threatening for the immunocompromised, such as newborn infants, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients, organ transplant recipients, and persons in chemotherapy. After infection, CMV remains latent throughout life and can be reactivated at any circumstance of immunosuppression, causing pneumonia, hepatitis, colitis, esophagitis, encephalitis, retinitis, infectious mononucleosis-like syndrome, or CMV polyradiculomyelopathy (PRAM). Some authors have also advanced molecular roles in inflammaging, immunosenescence, atherosclerosis, and oncogenesis, for example, in mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the salivary glands. The aim of this Special Issue is, therefore, a full immersion in the pathogenesis and immunology of CMV.

Prof. Dr. Luca Roncati
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • cytomegalovirus (CMV)
  • human herpes virus 5 (HHV5)
  • congenital CMV
  • fetus
  • acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)
  • CMV polyradiculomyelopathy (PRAM)
  • inflammaging
  • immunosenescence
  • pathogenesis
  • immunology

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

20 pages, 1040 KiB  
Article
Human Cytomegalovirus Oncoprotection across Diverse Populations, Tumor Histologies, and Age Groups: The Relevance for Prospective Vaccinal Therapy
by Marko Jankovic, Tara Knezevic, Ana Tomic, Ognjen Milicevic, Tanja Jovanovic, Irena Djunic, Biljana Mihaljevic, Aleksandra Knezevic and Milena Todorovic-Balint
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(7), 3741; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25073741 - 27 Mar 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1500
Abstract
The oncogenicity of the human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is currently being widely debated. Most recently, mounting clinical evidence suggests an anti-cancer effect via CMV-induced T cell-mediated tumor destruction. However, the data were mostly obtained from single-center studies and in vitro experiments. Broad geographic coverage [...] Read more.
The oncogenicity of the human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is currently being widely debated. Most recently, mounting clinical evidence suggests an anti-cancer effect via CMV-induced T cell-mediated tumor destruction. However, the data were mostly obtained from single-center studies and in vitro experiments. Broad geographic coverage is required to offer a global perspective. Our study examined the correlation between country-specific CMV seroprevalence (across 73 countries) and the age-standardized incidence rate (of 34 invasive tumors). The populations studied were stratified according to decadal age periods as the immunologic effects of CMV seropositivity may depend upon age at initial infection. The International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization (IARC WHO) database was used. The multivariate linear regression analysis revealed a worldwide inverse correlation between CMV seroprevalence and the incidences of 62.8% tumors. Notably, this inverse link persists for all cancers combined (Spearman’s ρ = −0.732, p < 0.001; β = −0.482, p < 0.001, adjusted R2 = 0.737). An antithetical and significant correlation was also observed in particular age groups for the vast majority of tumors. Our results corroborate the conclusions of previous studies and indicate that this oncopreventive phenomenon holds true on a global scale. It applies to a wide spectrum of cancer histologies, additionally supporting the idea of a common underlying mechanism—CMV-stimulated T cell tumor targeting. Although these results further advance the notion of CMV-based therapies, in-depth investigation of host–virus interactions is still warranted. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathogenesis and Immunology of Cytomegalovirus)
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