Cutaneous Human Polyomavirus Small T Antigens and 4E-BP1 Targeting.

Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV)， trichodysplasia spinulosa-associated polyomavirus (TSPyV)， human polyomavirus 6 (HPyV6)， and human polyomavirus 7 (HPyV7) are implicated in the pathogeneses of distinct hyperproliferative cutaneous growths and encode small tumor (sT) antigens. The current study demonstrates that the four sT antigens differentially regulate 4E-binding protein 1 (4E-BP1) serine 65 hyperphosphorylation. MCPyV and HPyV7 sT antigens were found to promote the presence of the hyperphosphorylated 4E-BP1-δ isoform， while TSPyV and HPyV6 sT antigens had no significant effects. Given that hyperphosphorylated 4E-BP1 is associated with an aggressive cancer phenotype， our findings confirm the previously reported pathogenicity of MCPyV sT and highlight a novel mechanism by which HPyV7 sT may mediate oncogenesis.