Şahinkesen İlker, Salar Seçkin, Doğan Fırat, Berk Yaren, Baştan Ayhan, Fedai Tarık, Köse Ayşe Merve, Ürer Ece Koldaş, Bilge-Dağalp Seval, Ehrke-Schulz Eric
The Graduate School of Health Sciences, Department of Virology, Ankara University, Ankara, Türkiye.
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ankara University, Ankara, Türkiye.
Braz J Microbiol. 2025 Jul 29. doi: 10.1007/s42770-025-01754-2.
Transmissible venereal tumors (TVT) are malignant (cancerous) round cell tumors. Unlike other cancers, TVTs are transferrable sexually between dogs through direct skin-to-skin contact with the tumor. Although the exact source of TVT cells remains unclear, the presence of inclusion bodies in tumor cell cytoplasm indicates the involvement of a viral agent. However, this hypothesis has not been fully revealed. Considering that, the papillomaviruses, which can cause cancer in many animal species, may play a role as an etiological agent in TVT cases. In this study, the presence of papillomaviruses in samples taken from dogs with TVT was investigated by PCR using different primer pairs. All samples were analyzed with FAP59/64, MY09/11, PVF/FAP64 primer sets targeting the L1 gene of PVs, and CP4/5 primer sets targeting the E1 gene of CPV. PV DNA was detected in 33 (45.20%) of 73 dogs with TVT. After carrying out PCR, positive samples were used for typing using sequence analysis. The MY09/11 primers amplified a 450 bp band in 27 out of 33 positive dogs (81.81%) as single. The MY09/11-CP4/5, PVF/FAP64, and PVF/FAP64-FAP59/64-CP4/5 primer sets showed positivity in 4, 1, and 1 of the animals, respectively. After molecular studies, only the oral biopsy sample of one dog showed 98-99% nucleotide sequence similarity with the L1 and E2 genes of canine PV type 1 for three primer sets but not for MY09/11. The other sequenced samples showed 70-73% similarity to Leptoncychotes weddellii papillomavirus 6 and 7. This therefore represents a novel PV, indicating that papillomaviruses belonging to different genera may cause TVT cases. These results suggest that PV infection may be involved in TVT pathogenesis in sampled dogs with TVT. Comprehensive studies on this subject can both clarify the etiology of these case and also indicate effective practices for controlling the disease, such as treatment and vaccination.
传染性性病肿瘤（TVT）是恶性（癌性）圆形细胞瘤。与其他癌症不同，TVT可通过与肿瘤直接的皮肤接触在犬之间性传播。尽管TVT细胞的确切来源尚不清楚，但肿瘤细胞质中包涵体的存在表明有病毒因子参与。然而，这一假说尚未完全得到证实。考虑到乳头瘤病毒可在许多动物物种中引发癌症，其可能在TVT病例中作为病原体发挥作用。在本研究中，使用不同引物对通过聚合酶链反应（PCR）对从患有TVT的犬采集的样本中乳头瘤病毒的存在情况进行了调查。所有样本均使用靶向乳头瘤病毒（PV）L1基因的FAP59/64、MY09/11、PVF/FAP64引物组以及靶向犬细小病毒（CPV）E1基因的CP4/5引物组进行分析。在73只患有TVT的犬中，33只（45.20%）检测到PV DNA。进行PCR后，对阳性样本进行测序分析以确定类型。在33只阳性犬中的27只（81.81%）中，MY09/11引物扩增出一条450 bp的条带。MY09/11-CP4/5、PVF/FAP64以及PVF/FAP64-FAP59/64-CP4/5引物组分别在4只、1只和1只动物中显示阳性。经过分子研究，仅一只犬的口腔活检样本在三个引物组中与犬1型乳头瘤病毒的L1和E2基因显示出98 - 99%的核苷酸序列相似性，但与MY09/11引物组不相似。其他测序样本与韦德尔海豹乳头瘤病毒6型和7型显示出70 - 73%的相似性。因此，这代表一种新型PV，表明属于不同属的乳头瘤病毒可能导致TVT病例。这些结果表明，PV感染可能参与了所采样的患有TVT的犬的TVT发病机制。对此主题的全面研究既能阐明这些病例的病因，也能指出控制该疾病的有效措施，如治疗和疫苗接种。
