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Viruses cause cancer, human papillomavirus HPV causes more than 500,000 annual worldwide cases of cervical cancer. By driving the proliferation of infected cells, viruses speed produce more viruses, but excessive cellular proliferation is a hallmark of cancer. According to University of Colorado Cancer Center viruses use to ensure their own survival by manipulate the human immune system.
Virus is found of suppressing the immune system for its own benefit, and promoting the formation and proliferation of cancer cells may be just a side effect of that,” says Sharon Kuss-Duerkop, PhD, research instructor working in the lab of CU Cancer Center investigator Dohun Pyeon, PhD.
Viruses have the ability to edit human DNA by inserting their genetic code into DNA so that the new viruses are built alongside DNA replication.
Viruses do not necessarily turn off the immune system by editing genes they mute the immune system by epigenetic regulation instead of changing the actual code of genes, viruses change the degree to which genes are expressed. They do this by DNA methylation- viruses cause methylation of parts of the genome known as DNA promoter regions. In Machiavellian twist, viruses recruit human proteins to methylate DNA and turn off important other bits of human DNA.
Virus activities makes an immune system weak, unable able to fight the virus, if virus-related cancers have methylated DNA promoter regions of immune-related genes, increasing the effectiveness of immune-based therapies against cancer is to demethylate these genes.
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