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Simian virus 40 (SV40), a polyomavirus of rhesus macaque origin,was discovered in 1960 as a contaminant of polio vaccines that weredistributed to millions of people from 1955 through early 1963. SV40 isa potent DNA tumor virus that induces tumors in rodents andtransforms many types of cells in culture, including those of humanorigin. This virus has been a favored laboratory model formechanistic studies of molecular processes in eukaryotic cells andof cellular transformation. The viral replication protein, named largeT antigen (T-ag), is also the viral oncoprotein. There is a singleserotype of SV40, but multiple strains of virus exist that aredistinguishable by nucleotide differences in the regulatory region of the viral genome and in the part of the T-ag gene thatencodes the protein's carboxyl terminus. Natural infections in monkeysby SV40 are usually benign but may become pathogenic inimmunocompromised animals, and multiple tissues can be infected.SV40 can replicate in certain types of simian and human cells.SV40-neutralizing antibodies have been detected in individuals notexposed to contaminated polio vaccines. SV40 DNA has been identifiedin some normal human tissues, and there are accumulating reports ofdetection of SV40 DNA and/or T-ag in a variety of human tumors. Thisreview presents aspects of replication and cell transformation by SV40and considers their implications for human infections and diseasepathogenesis by the virus. Critical assessment of virologic andepidemiologic data suggests a probable causative role for SV40 incertain human cancers, but additional studies are necessary to prove etiology.

(C) Copyright Oxford University Press 1999.