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Background: Human T-cell leukemia virus types 1 and 2 (HTLV-1 and HTLV-2) are delta retroviruses with similar genetic organization. Although both viruses immortalize T-cells in vitro, they exhibit distinct pathogenic potential in vivo. To search for possible differences in its expression strategy with respect to HTLV-1, we investigated the pattern of HTLV-2 expression in infected cell lines and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from infected patients using splice site-specific quantitative RT-PCR. Findings: A novel alternative splice acceptor site for exon 2 was identified; its usage in env transcripts was found to be subtype-specific. Time-course analysis revealed a two-phase expression kinetics in an infected cell line and in PBMCs of two of the three patients examined; this pattern was reminiscent of HTLV-1. In addition, the minus-strand APH2 transcript was mainly detected in the nucleus, a feature that was similar to its HTLV-1 orthologue HBZ. In contrast to HTLV-1, expression of the mRNA encoding the main regulatory proteins Tax and Rex and that of the mRNAs encoding the p28 and truncated Rex inhibitors is skewed towards p28/truncated Rex inhibitors in HTLV-2. Conclusion: Our data suggest a general converging pattern of expression of HTLV-2 and HTLV-1 and highlight peculiar differences in the expression of regulatory proteins that might influence the pathobiology of these viruses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the research paper titled," Kinetics and intracellular compartmentalization of the Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) gene expression," is presented.

An abstract of the research paper titled,"Analysis of temporal expression of the Human T-cell leukemia virus type 2 (HTLV-2) reveals similarities and functional differences from HTLV-1 ," is presented.

An abstract of the research paper titled,"MicroRNA expression in the Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infection and pathogenesis ," is presented.

An abstract of the research paper titled,"Control of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and T-cell turnover by the Human T-cell leukemia virus type 13 (HTLV-p13)," is presented.

An abstract of the research paper titled,"The Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) Tax protein inhibits nonsensemediated mRNA decay by interacting with INT6/EIF3E and UPF1 ," is presented.