Bovine Papillomavirus: Old System, New Lessons?
M Saveria Campo
from: Papillomavirus Research: From Natural History To Vaccines and Beyond (Edited by: M. Saveria Campo). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2006)
Abstract
Bovine papillomavirus (BPV) is perhaps the most extensively studied animal papillomavirus. BPVs induce exophytic papillomas of cutaneous or mucosal epithelia in cattle. The papillomas are benign tumours and generally regress without eliciting any serious clinical problems in the host, but occasionally persist and provide the focus for malignant transformation to squamous cell carcinoma, particularly in the presence of environmental cofactors. This has been experimentally demonstrated for cancer of the urinary bladder and cancer of the upper alimentary canal in cattle feeding on bracken fern. Six BPV types (BPV-1-6) have been characterised associated with specific, lesions with different histopathological characteristics. Recently the biology of BPV-5 has been reassessed, and novel types have been found, the biological characterisation of which is awaited with great interest. BPV has been studied both as an infectious agent in its own right and as a model in which to investigate the interaction of papillomavirus with its natural host and with environmental cofactors. It has also provided a powerful model for vaccination against human papillomavirus (PV). It continues to provide information applicable to HPV: new functions recently discovered for BPV proteins have been confirmed for HPV proteins read more ...
