Infection of xenotransplanted human cell lines by murine retroviruses: A lesson brought back to light by XMRV

Frontiers -

Infection of xenotransplanted human cells by xenotropic retroviruses is a known phenomenon in the scientific literature, with examples cited since the early 1970’s. However, arguably, until recently, the importance of this phenomenon had not been largely recognized. The emergence and subsequent debunking of Xenotropic Murine leukemia virus-Related Virus (XMRV) as a cell culture contaminant as opposed to a potential pathogen in several human diseases, notably prostate cancer and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, highlighted a potential problem of murine endogenous gammaretroviruses  infecting commonly used human cell lines. Subsequent to the discovery of XMRV, many additional cell lines that underwent xenotransplantation in mice have been shown to harbor murine gammaretroviruses.

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