Viral Manipulation of the Host Epigenome as a Driver of Virus-Induced Oncogenesis

Shimaa Hassan AbdelAziz Soliman; Arturo Orlacchio; Fabio Verginelli

doi:10.3390/microorganisms9061179

Viral Manipulation of the Host Epigenome as a Driver of Virus-Induced Oncogenesis

Microorganisms. 2021 May 30;9(6):1179. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms9061179.

Authors

Shimaa Hassan AbdelAziz Soliman¹, Arturo Orlacchio^{2

3}, Fabio Verginelli⁴

Affiliations

¹ Simpson Querrey Institute for Epigenetics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
² Department of Cancer Biology and Genetics, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
³ Arthur G. James Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
⁴ Department of Pharmacy and Center for Advanced Studies (CAST), G. d'Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy.

Abstract

Tumorigenesis due to viral infection accounts for a high fraction of the total global cancer burden (15-20%) of all human cancers. A comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms by which viral infection leads to tumor development is extremely important. One of the main mechanisms by which viruses induce host cell proliferation programs is through controlling the host's epigenetic machinery. In this review, we dissect the epigenetic pathways through which oncogenic viruses can integrate their genome into host cell chromosomes and lead to tumor progression. In addition, we highlight the potential use of drugs based on histone modifiers in reducing the global impact of cancer development due to viral infection.

Keywords: EBV, HCMV; HBV; HCV; HPV; HTLV-1; KSHV; MCPyV; epigenetic; oncogenic viruses.

Publication types

Review