Tissue tropism of the TTV in experimentally infected rhesus monkeys

To determine whether the transfusion-transmitted virus (TTV) is hepatotropic. Total DNA was extracted from various tissues of 5 experimentally infected Rhesus monkeys during the viremic period. A dot hybridization was done with viral double stranded DNA probes or single antisense probes. The double-stranded probe was hybridized with DNA from the liver, bone marrow, spleen,stomach, small intestine and colon. The single-stranded antisense probe was hybridized with DNA from the liver, small intestine and bone marrow of all 5 monkeys, but not with that from other tissues. As the viral genome was of negative polarity, the plus-stranded fragment identified in our study might be a replicative intermediate, and was only demonstrated in the liver, small intestine, and bone marrow by dot blot hybridization with single-stranded antisense probes. It is suggested that the TTV replicates in the liver, bone marrow and small intestine, and TTV might be hepatotropic.