Search for antigens and antibodies crossreactive with type C viruses of the woolly monkeys and gibbon ape in animal models and in humans.

Abstract

Several reports indicated the presence of type-C viral antigens in human tumors and viruses closely related to those of the woolly monkey and gibbon ape in cultured human cells. Attempts to detect woolly monkey viral antigens in human tissues, or antibodies directed against structural polypeptides of woolly monkey viruses in human sera were unsuccessful [in the present study]. It was possible to demonstrate viral antigens in tissues and antibodies reactive to viral components in several animal [cat (Felis catus)] and primate [baboon (Papio cyanocephalus), rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta), gibbon ape (Hylobates lar)] model systems. Further evidence against the presence of woolly monkey viruses in human is the failure to identify spontaneous or chemically induced viruses of this group in > 200 individual cultures of human origin examined. These findings argue against the likelihood that viruses closely related to the woolly monkey virus are associated with human tumors or are common infectious agents of man.