Novel replication-competent circular DNA molecules from healthy cattle serum and milk and multiple sclerosis-affected human brain tissue

Corinna Whitley; Karin Gunst; Hermann Müller; Mathis Funk; Harald Zur Hausen; Ethel-Michele de Villiers

doi:10.1128/genomeA.00849-14

Novel replication-competent circular DNA molecules from healthy cattle serum and milk and multiple sclerosis-affected human brain tissue

Genome Announc. 2014 Aug 28;2(4):e00849-14. doi: 10.1128/genomeA.00849-14.

Authors

Corinna Whitley¹, Karin Gunst¹, Hermann Müller², Mathis Funk¹, Harald Zur Hausen¹, Ethel-Michele de Villiers³

Affiliations

¹ Division for the Characterization of Tumorviruses, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany.
² Institute for Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
³ Division for the Characterization of Tumorviruses, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany [email protected].

Abstract

Epidemiological data point to the involvement of a cow milk factor in the etiology of multiple sclerosis (MS). Eleven circular DNA molecules closely related to transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE)-associated isolate Sphinx 1.76 were isolated from healthy cattle serum, cow milk, and serum and brain tissue from MS patients.