Life cycles of polyomaviridae-DNA tumor virus

Simian virus 40 (SV40) is a non-enveloped DNA virus. It is known to have been accidentally introduced to a large segment of the human population during the mid-20th century through tainted polio vaccines produced in the kidney cells of African green monkeys and rhesusu monkeys. Studies have indicated that when the virus invades certain mammalian cells, its reproduction is often hindered, but the virus may produce T-antigen and incite oncogenic transformation in the host. SV40 has been shown to incite tumor growth in rodents and may be linked to the development of mesothelioma and certain other kinds of cancer in humans. Therefore, SV40 has been well analyzed as a tumor model. Recently, the host cell receptors for SV40 have been identified and it has been shown to pass from surface caveolae to the endoplasmic reticulum in apparently novel infectious entry pathway. Virus-like particles (VLPs) of polyomavirus has been shown to enter into cells in the same way as polyomavirus virion, suggesting the possibility that VLPs can be used as the carrier of drug delivery system through the use of the polyomavirus infectious pathway.