Human Bocavirus Infection of Permanent Cells Differentiated to Air-Liquid Interface Cultures Activates Transcription of Pathways Involved in Tumorigenesis

The parvoviral human bocavirus (HBoV) is a respiratory pathogen, able to persist in infected cells. The viral DNA has been identified in colorectal and lung tumors and thus it was postulated that the virus could be associated with tumorigenesis. This assumption was supported by the fact that in HBoV-infected patients and in an in vitro cell culture system, pro-cancerogenic and -fibrotic cytokines were expressed. In this work, it is shown by a whole transcriptome analysis that, also at the mRNA level, several pathways leading to neoplasia and tumorigenesis are significantly upregulated. In total, a set of 54 transcripts are specifically regulated by HBoV, of which the majority affects canonical pathways that may lead to tumor development if they become deregulated. Moreover, pathways leading to necrosis, apoptosis and cell death are downregulated, supporting the hypothesis that HBoV might contribute to the development of some kinds of cancer.