Human T-cell leukemia virus i provirus and antibodies in a captive gorilla with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
Srivastava, B.I.; Wong-Staal, F.; Getchell, J.P.
Cancer Research 46(9): 4756-4758
1986
ISSN/ISBN: 0008-5472 PMID: 3015396 Document Number: 278316
Antibodies reactive against human T-cell leukemia virus I (HTLV-I) were detected by indirect immunofluorescence assay using MT-2 as target cells, enzyme linked immunosorbent assay screen and competition assay, and Western blot analysis in three sera (one collected in 1979) from a captive gorilla which developed diffuse histiocytic lymphoma in 1983. The sera from four other healthy gorillas housed separately were HTLV-I antibody negative. All sera were negative for HTLV-III antibodies by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Southern blot analysis of DNA from lymphoma tissue after digestion with BamHI and using complete HTLV-I genome probe gave one 10-kilobase fragment and a characteristic 1.05-kilobase internal fragment detected in all known HTLV-I isolates. These results indicate that the gorilla was infected with HTLV-I or a closely related simian virus several years before the development of lymphoma.