Title says it all, and it's Great news!
XMRV Global Action: The National Cancer Institute, with Mikovits and Ruscetti, finds XMRV in CFS patients with antibody and new serology tests
Dr. Sandra Ruscetti Dr. Ruscetti is the head of the Retroviral Pathogenesis Section, Laboratory of Cancer Prevention. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh studying the genetic control of the immune response with Dr. Thomas Gill. In 1975, she joined the laboratories of Drs. Wade Parks and Edward Scolnick at NCI and began her work on the pathogenesis of mouse retroviruses.
"We are currently using knowledge and reagents obtained from working with mouse retroviruses to study the xenotropic MuLV-related human retrovirus XMRV, which was recently discovered through an association with prostate cancer. In collaboration with the laboratories of Judy Mikovits and Frank Ruscetti, we were able to use antibodies developed against the envelope protein of SFFV to detect infectious XMRV in the blood cells and plasma of patients suffering from the neuroimmune disease chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). We were further able to develop a seroconversion assay using cells expressing the SFFV envelope protein to detect antibodies against the virus in the plasma of CFS patients. We now plan to apply our knowledge of the pathogenesis of mouse retroviruses that cause cancer and neurological disease in rodents to study the molecular basis for similar diseases associated with XMRV. We are in the process of developing rodent models for determining the biological effects of XMRV in vivo, which if successful will provide a small animal model for preclinical testing of potential anti-XMRV drugs. In addition, we are testing both in vitro and in vivo the biological effects of the envelope protein of XMRV, which like its related SFFV counterpart may be responsible for the pathogenicity of XMRV. " Quote from Dr. Ruscetti
Full details here at The National Cancer Institute
"We are currently using knowledge and reagents obtained from working with mouse retroviruses to study the xenotropic MuLV-related human retrovirus XMRV, which was recently discovered through an association with prostate cancer. In collaboration with the laboratories of Judy Mikovits and Frank Ruscetti, we were able to use antibodies developed against the envelope protein of SFFV to detect infectious XMRV in the blood cells and plasma of patients suffering from the neuroimmune disease chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). We were further able to develop a seroconversion assay using cells expressing the SFFV envelope protein to detect antibodies against the virus in the plasma of CFS patients. We now plan to apply our knowledge of the pathogenesis of mouse retroviruses that cause cancer and neurological disease in rodents to study the molecular basis for similar diseases associated with XMRV. We are in the process of developing rodent models for determining the biological effects of XMRV in vivo, which if successful will provide a small animal model for preclinical testing of potential anti-XMRV drugs. In addition, we are testing both in vitro and in vivo the biological effects of the envelope protein of XMRV, which like its related SFFV counterpart may be responsible for the pathogenicity of XMRV. " Quote from Dr. Ruscetti
Full details here at The National Cancer Institute
Thank you NCI and WPI, for keeping the momentum going!
