Background: Viruses including Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), a human equivalent of murine mammary tumour virus (MMTV) and human papillomavirus (HPV) have been implicated in the aetiology of human breast cancer. We report the presence of HPV DNA sequences in areolar tissue and tumour tissue samples from female patients with breast carcinoma. The presence of virus in the areolar–nipple complex suggests to us a potential pathogenic mechanism. Methods: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was undertaken to amplify HPV types in areolar and tumour tissue from breast cancer cases. In situ hybridisation supported the PCR findings and localised the virus in nipple, areolar and tumour tissue. Results: Papillomavirus DNA was present in 25 of 29 samples of breast carcinoma and in 20 of 29 samples from the corresponding mamilla. The most prevalent type in both carcinomas and nipples was HPV 11, followed by HPV 6. Other types detected were HPV 16, 23, 27 and 57 (nipples and carcinomas), HPV 20, 21, 32, 37, 38, 66 and GA3-1 (nipples only) and HPV 3, 15, 24, 87 and DL473 (carcinomas only). Multiple types were demonstrated in seven carcinomas and ten nipple samples. Conclusions: The data demonstrate the occurrence of HPV in nipple and areolar tissues in patients with breast carcinoma. The authors postulate a retrograde ductular pattern of viral spread that may have pathogenic significance.

We report the isolation of 24 novel genotypes of TT viruses from a surgically removed spleen of a patient with Hodgkin's disease. The sequence analysis of our 24 isolates revealed the remarkable heterogeneity of TT virus isolates not only from the same patient but also from the same biopsy material. These isolates belong to four phylogenetic groups of TT viruses. Nucleotide sequence analyses revealed five distinct genotypes (tth3, tth4, tth5, tth6, and tth7). The limited variation in sequence identity of the other isolates defines the latter as variants of four of these genotypes. A group of 6 isolates (the tth7 group) revealed a reorganization of open reading frame 1 (ORF1) leading to one larger and a varying number of smaller ORFs. The nucleotide difference of the full-length genomes was less than 1%. A variation of 69 to 97% in amino acids of a second group of 8 isolates (the tth3 group) was restricted to the hypervariable region of ORF1, indicating the existence of a quasi-species. These isolates differed by less than 2% in the remainder of their nucleotide sequences. An alignment of these isolates with 79 previously reported TT virus genotypes permits the proposal of TT virus genera and species within the family Anelloviridae in analogy to a previous proposal for the papillomaviruses (family Papillomaviridae ).

Myco-like viruses have been isolated from fungi, feces of various animals, and plant leaves. We report here the isolation of 3 complete genome sequences of gemycircularvirus-related viruses from healthy bovine serum and human brain and serum samples from patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Their putative capsid proteins share similarity to Torque teno virus (TTV) open reading frame 1 (ORF1) proteins.

The family Anelloviridae comprises torque teno viruses (TTVs) diverse in genome structure and organization. The isolation of a large number of TTV genomes (TTV Heidelberg [TTV-HD]) of 26 TTV types is reported. Several isolates from the same type indicate sequence variation within open reading frame 1 (ORF1), resulting in considerably modified open reading frames. We demonstrate in vitro replication of 12 full-length genomes of TTV-HD in 293TT cells. Propagation of virus was achieved by several rounds of infections using supernatant and frozen whole cells of initially infected cells. Replication of virus was measured by PCR amplification and transcription analyses. Subgenomic molecules (μTTV), arising early during propagation and ranging in size from 401 to 913 bases, were cloned and characterized. Propagation of these μTTV in in vitro cultures was demonstrated in the absence of full-length genomes.