1st International Workshop on XMRV -Report

[Guest guest]

Below You will find the abstract and introduction of

the First International Workshop Retrovirology.

For private members the full text in pdf format is

attached, but can also be found at: http://bit.ly/fRN2b3

~jan van roijen

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BioMed

Retrovirology

The Xenotropic Murine Leukemia

Virus-Related Retrovirus Debate

Continues at First International

Workshop Retrovirology

2010, 7:113 doi:10.1186/1742-4690-7-113

P Stoye (jstoye@...)

H Silverman (silverr@...)

A Boucher (c.boucher@...)

Stuart FJ Le Grice (legrices@...)

ISSN 1742-4690

Article type Review

Submission date 9 November 2010

Acceptance date 22 December 2010

Publication date 22 December 2010

Article URL

http://www.retrovirology.com/content/7/1/113

This peer-reviewed article was published immediately

upon acceptance. It can be downloaded, printed and

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The Xenotropic Murine Leukemia Virus-Related

Retrovirus Debate Continues at First International

Workshop

P. Stoye1, H. Silverman2,

A. Boucher3 and Stuart F.J. Le Grice4*.

1MRC National Institute for Medical Research, The

Ridgeway, Mill Hill, London NW71AA, UK,

2Department of Cancer Biology, Lerner Research

Institute, Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid

Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA,

3Department of Virology, Erasmus MC, University

Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The

Netherlands,

4HIV Drug Resistance Program, National Cancer

Institute, Frederick, MD 21702, USA*

*Corresponding author Tel:

Fax:

e-mail: legrices@...

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Abstract:

The 1st International Workshop on Xenotropic Murine

Leukemia Virus-Related Retrovirus (XMRV),

co-sponsored by the National Institutes of Health,

The Department of Health and Human Services and

Abbott Diagnostics, was convened on September 7/8,

2010 on the NIH campus, Bethesda, MD.

Attracting an international audience of over 200

participants, the 2-day event combined a series of

plenary talks with updates on different aspects of

XMRV research, addressing basic gammaretrovirus

biology, host response, association of XMRV with

chronic fatigue syndrome and prostate cancer, assay

development and epidemiology.

The current status of XMRV research, concerns

among the scientific community and suggestions for

future actions are summarized in this meeting report.

Introduction

In 2006, Urisman et al. [1] described the

identification and characterization of a novel

gammaretrovirus, xenotropic murine leukemia

virus-related virus (XMRV), in a small number of

prostate cancers.

Subsequent studies of Schlaberg et al. [2] suggested

that XMRV might have a broader distribution, and

was present in both prostate cancer patients and

benign controls.

XMRV is very closely related to endogenous

proviruses found in inbred (laboratory) mice, some of

which cause lymphoma and other diseases in mice.

Due to the lack of functional receptor Xpr1, this virus

does not replicate in most inbred mice, but grows

well in human prostate cancer cell lines.

Interest in XMRV has recently intensified following

the work of Lombardi et al. [3], who detected XMRV

in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients in clusters

of cases in Nevada and Florida-South Carolina.

Virus could be detected through both antibodies in

serum and proviral DNA in peripheral blood

mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and could easily be

cultured from PBMCs and plasma.

However, although these and related studies

demonstrated an association of XMRV infection with

at least two human diseases, causality was not

established.

Despite the significant increase in XMRV-related

publications over the last 24 months, the research

community has failed to reach consensus on the

origin of this virus, its causative (or passenger) role

in disease pathology, and the extent to which it is

prevalent in the human population.

On the contrary, the numbers of studies identifying

XMRV in humans [1-6] are presently outweighed by

reports from laboratories throughout the world that

have failed to detect the virus [7-15] which have now

added to an increasing sense of confusion.

Central to this has been the lack of standardized

nucleic acid-based or serological methods for

detecting viral nucleic acid and antibodies,

respectively, as well as " gold standard " reference

samples with which individual groups can judge the

selectivity and sensitivity of their protocols.

The 1st International Workshop on XMRV was

therefore convened at the National Institutes of

Health, Bethesda, MD on September 7/8, 2010, with

a goal of providing a public forum to discuss these

and related issues, including increasing concerns

regarding mouse DNA contamination, methods of

sample handling and storage, use of antiretrovirals

currently available for HIV therapy, and progress in

developing standard PCR and serological reagents.

In his introductory remarks, NIH Director Dr. Francis

urged the 225 attendees to maintain a

healthy skepticism on potential causative roles of

XMRV, indicating that a solution to this conundrum

requires an interdisciplinary and synergistic effort

from researchers in both the prostate cancer and CFS

arenas.

This report summarizes overviews and research

findings presented during the 2-day International

Workshop.