Simian foamy virus

Species of virus

Simian foamy virus (SFV) is a species of the genus Spumavirus that belongs to the family of Retroviridae. It has been identified in a wide variety of primates, including prosimians, New World and Old World monkeys, as well as apes, and each species has been shown to harbor a unique (species specific) strain of SFV, including African green monkeys, baboons, macaques, and chimpanzees. As it is related to the more well known retrovirus human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), its discovery in primates has led to some speculation that HIV may have been spread to the human species in Africa through contact with blood from apes, monkeys, and other primates, most likely through bushmeat hunting practices.

Although the simian foamy virus is endemic in African apes and monkeys, there are extremely high infection rates in captivity, ranging from 70% to 100% in adult animals. Its ability to cross over to humans was proven in 2004 by a joint United States and Cameroonian team which found the retrovirus in gorillas, mandrills, and guenons; unexpectedly, they also found it in 10 of 1,100 local Cameroon residents. Of those found infected, the majority are males who had been bitten by a primate. While this only accounts for 1% of the population, this detail alarms some who fear the outbreak of another zoonotic epidemic. SFV causes cells to fuse with each other to form syncytia, whereby the cell becomes multi nucleated and many vacuoles form, giving it a "foamy" appearance.

As a retrovirus, the genomic material is monopartite, linear, positive sense single stranded RNA that forms a double stranded DNA intermediate through the use of the enzyme reverse transcriptase. The RNA strand is approximately 12kb's in length, with a 5' cap and a 3'poly A tail. The first full genome annotation of a proviral SFV isolated from cynomolgus macaque (Macaca fascicularis) had been performed in December 2016, where it revealed two regulatory sequences, tas and bet, in addition to the structural sequences of gag, pol and env. There are two long terminal repeats (LTRs) of about 600 nucleotides long at the 5' and 3' ends that function as promoters, with an additional internal promoter (IP) located near the 3' end of env. The LTRs contain the U3, R, and U5 regions that are characteristic of retroviruses. There is also a primer binding site (PBS) at the 5'end and a polypurine tract (PPT) at the 3'end. Whereas gag, pol, and env are conserved throughout retroviruses, the tas gene is unique and found only in Spumaviridae. It encodes for a trans activator protein required for transcription from both the LTR promoter and the IP. The synthesized Tas protein, which was initially known as Bel 1, is a 36 kDa phosphoprotein which contains an acidic transcription activation domain at its C terminus and a centrally located DNA binding domain.

The virus attaches to host receptors through the SU glycoprotein, and the TM glycoprotein mediates fusion with the cell membrane. The entry receptor that triggers viral entry has not been identified, but the absence of heparan sulfate in one study resulted in a decrease of infection, acknowledging it as an attachment factor that assists in mediating the entry of the viral particle. Once the virus has entered the interior of the cell, the retroviral core undergoes structural transformations through the activity of viral proteases. Studies have revealed that there are three internal protease dependent cleavage sites that are critical for the virus to be infectious. One mutation within the gag gene had caused a structural change to the first cleavage site, preventing subsequent cleavage at the two other sites by the viral PR, reflecting its prominent role. Once disassembled, the genetic material and enzymes are free within the cytoplasm to continue with the viral replication. Whereas most retroviruses deposit ssRNA(+) into the cell, SFV and other related species are different in that up to 20% of released viral particles already contains dsDNA genomes. This is due to a unique feature of spumaviruses in which the onset of reverse transcription of genomic RNA occurs before release rather than after entry of the new host cell like in other retroviruses. The presence of this protein is crucial, as in the absence of Tas, LTR mediated transcription cannot be detected. Foamy viruses utilize multiple promoters. The IP is required for viral infectivity in tissue culture, as this promoter has a higher basal transcription level than the LTR promoter, and its use leads to transcripts encoding Tas and Bet. Once levels of Tas accumulate, it begins to make use of the LTR promoter, which binds Tas with lower affinity than the IP and leads to accumulation of gag, pol, and env transcripts. Analysis of the glycoproteins on the envelope of the viral particle indicate that it is localized to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and that once it buds from the organelle, the maturation process is finalized and can leave to infect additional cells. A dipeptide of two lysine residues (dilysine) was the identified motif that determined to be the specific molecule that mediated the signal, localizing viral particles in the ER.

There is little data on how SFV interacts with the host cell as the infection takes its course. The most obvious effect that can be observed is the formation of syncytia that results in multinucleated cells. While the details for how SFV can induce this change are not known, the related HIV does cause similar instances among CD4+ T cells. As the cell transcribes the integrated proviral genome, glycoproteins are produced and displayed at the surface of the cell. If enough proteins are at the surface with other CD4+ T cells nearby, the glycoproteins will attach and result in the fusion of several cells. Foamy degeneration, or vacuolization is another observable change within the cells, but it is unknown how SFV results in the formation of numerous cytoplasmic vacuoles. This is another characteristic of retroviruses, but there are no studies or explanations on why this occurs.

The transmission of SFV is believed to spread through saliva, because large quantities of viral RNA, indicative of SFV gene expression and replication, are present in cells of the oral mucosa. Little else is known about the prevalence and transmission patterns of SFV in wild living primate populations. The first case of a spumavirus being isolated from a primate was in 1955 (Rustigan et al., 1955) from the kidneys. What is curious about the cytopathology of SFV is that while it results in rapid cell death for cells in vitro, it loses its highly cytopathic nature in vivo.

SFV can infect a wide range of cells, with in vitro experiments confirming that fibroblasts, epithelial cells, and neural cells all showed extensive cytopathology that is characteristic of foamy virus infection. The cytopathic effects in B lymphoid cells and macrophages was reduced, where reverse transcriptase values were lower when compared to fibroblasts and epithelial cells. Cells that expressed no signs of cytopathy from SFV were the Jurkat and Hut 78 T cell lines.

The phylogenetic tree analysis of SFV polymerase and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit II (COII has been shown as a powerful marker used for primate phylogeny) from African and Asian monkeys and apes provides very similar branching order and divergence times among the two trees, supporting the cospeciation. Also, the substitution rate in the SFV gene was found to be extremely slow, i. e. the SFV has evolved at a very low rate (1.7×10−8 substitutions per site per year). These results suggest SFV has been cospeciated with Old World primates for about 30 million years, making them the oldest known vertebrate RNA viruses. The SFV sequence examination of species and subspecies within each clade of the phylogenetic tree of the primates indicated cospeciation of SFV and the primate hosts, as well. A strong linear relationship was found between the branch lengths for the host and SFV gene trees, which indicated synchronous genetic divergence in both data sets. Since the long term consequences of these cross species infections are not known, it is important to determine to what extent wild primates are infected with simian foamy viruses. In this study, researchers tested this question for wild chimpanzees by using novel noninvasive methods. Analyzing over 700 fecal samples from 25 chimpanzee communities across sub Saharan Africa, the researchers obtained viral sequences from a large proportion of these communities, showing a range of infection rates from 44% to 100%. Major disease outbreaks have originated from cross species transmission of infectious agents between primates and humans, making it important to learn more about how these cross species transfers occur. The high SFV infection rates of chimpanzees provide an opportunity to monitor where humans are exposed to these viruses. Identifying the locations may help determine where the highest rates of human–chimpanzee interactions occur. This may predict what other pathogens may jump the species barrier next.