HTLV tax and Mycosis Fungoides: Letter

[...]proviral sequences homologous with several regions of HTLV-I or HTLV-II have been detected in a number of cultures by means of DNA amplification1-3. Because of the caveat that some of these sequences may represent human endogenous retroviruses,4 we have initiated a survey using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with Southern blot analysis to probe for HTLV-I or HTLV-II tax in freshly isolated mononuclear cells from patients with mycosis fungoides. [...]far, tax -- the putative transforming gene for these viruses5 -- has not been shown to share homology with any human DNA sequences. Other investigators have suggested that genetic variation in the immune response may account for the development of tropical spastic paraparesis and HTLV-associated myelopathy instead of adult T-cell leukemia in people infected with HTLV-I7. 1.