Forum for Science, Industry and Business

Mouse mammary tumor virus can replicate in human cells

The idea that MMTV is involved in human breast cancer has been around for over 50 years. In the 1990s, researchers detected MMTV in human breast tumors, but not in healthy breast tissue. The link between MMTV and human breast cancer was contentious though, as some scientists believed the presence of MMTV in tumors was caused by contamination rather than infection.

However, two years ago, researchers from the University of Veterinary Medicine, Austrianova Biotechnology and the Christian-Doppler Laboratory for Gene Therapeutic Vector Development, all based in Vienna, Austria, showed that MMTV does actually infect human cells.

Now, they have added to these findings with this latest study, which shows that MMTV can replicate in cultured human breast cells. The new virus particles produced by the infected cells enabled the virus to spread rapidly, leading to the infection of every cell in culture.

"It has recently been shown convincingly that MMTV can infect human cells. Often, however, viruses infect cells but cannot replicate further. If they can replicate, the chances that they cause disease may be increased," says Dr Stanislav Indik from the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna and one of the study's authors.

There are a number of questions still to be answered before a concrete role of MMTV in human breast cancer is established, including whether MMTV can infect primary cells - those taken directly from the body, not from a cultured cell line. Also, researchers plan to investigate how the virus spreads from mice to humans, and to examine if one of the possible outcomes of human MMTV infection is breast cancer.

MMTV is a retrovirus, the same kind of virus as HIV. If MMTV is eventually found to play a role in human breast cancer, current treatments for HIV may also be effective against MMTV.

Charlotte Webber | EurekAlert!
Further information:
http://www.retrovirology.com/
http://www.biomedcentral.com

Im Focus: Can we see monkeys from space? Emerging technologies to map biodiversity

An international team of scientists has proposed a new multi-disciplinary approach in which an array of new technologies will allow us to map biodiversity and the risks that wildlife is facing at the scale of whole landscapes. The findings are published in Nature Ecology and Evolution. This international research is led by the Kunming Institute of Zoology from China, University of East Anglia, University of Leicester and the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research.

Using a combination of satellite and ground data, the team proposes that it is now possible to map biodiversity with an accuracy that has not been previously...

Im Focus: Climate satellite: Tracking methane with robust laser technology

Heatwaves in the Arctic, longer periods of vegetation in Europe, severe floods in West Africa – starting in 2021, scientists want to explore the emissions of the greenhouse gas methane with the German-French satellite MERLIN. This is made possible by a new robust laser system of the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen, which achieves unprecedented measurement accuracy.

Methane is primarily the result of the decomposition of organic matter. The gas has a 25 times greater warming potential than carbon dioxide, but is not as...

Im Focus: How protons move through a fuel cell

Hydrogen is regarded as the energy source of the future: It is produced with solar power and can be used to generate heat and electricity in fuel cells. Empa researchers have now succeeded in decoding the movement of hydrogen ions in crystals – a key step towards more efficient energy conversion in the hydrogen industry of tomorrow.

As charge carriers, electrons and ions play the leading role in electrochemical energy storage devices and converters such as batteries and fuel cells. Proton...

Im Focus: A unique data centre for cosmological simulations

Scientists from the Excellence Cluster Universe at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich have establised "Cosmowebportal", a unique data centre for cosmological simulations located at the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ) of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. The complete results of a series of large hydrodynamical cosmological simulations are available, with data volumes typically exceeding several hundred terabytes. Scientists worldwide can interactively explore these complex simulations via a web interface and directly access the results.

With current telescopes, scientists can observe our Universe’s galaxies and galaxy clusters and their distribution along an invisible cosmic web. From the...

Im Focus: Scientists develop molecular thermometer for contactless measurement using infrared light

Temperature measurements possible even on the smallest scale / Molecular ruby for use in material sciences, biology, and medicine

Chemists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in cooperation with researchers of the German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM)...