Human and simian T-cell leukemia viruses type 2 (HTLV-2 and STLV-2(pan-p)) transform T cells independently of Jak/STAT activation.

Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) and HTLV-2 differ in pathogenicity in vivo. HTLV-1 causes leukemia and neurologic and inflammatory diseases, whereas HTLV-2 is less clearly associated with human disease. Both retroviruses transform human T cells in vitro, and transformation by HTLV-1 was found to be associated with the constitutive activation of the Jak/STAT pathway. To assess whether HTLV-2 transformation may also result in constitutive activation of the Jak/STAT pathway, six interleukin-2-independent, HTLV-2-transformed T-cell lines were analyzed for the presence of activated Jak and STAT proteins by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. In addition, the phosphorylation status of Jak and STAT proteins was assessed directly by immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting with an antiphosphotyrosine antibody. Jak/STAT proteins were not found to be constitutively activated in any of the T-cell lines infected by the type 2 human and nonhuman primate viruses, suggesting that HTLV-2 and the cognate virus simian T-lymphotropic virus type 2 from Pan paniscus transform T cells in vitro by mechanisms at least partially different from those used by HTLV-1.