TY - JOUR AU - Martinez, Michael P. AU - Al-Saleem, Jacob AU - Green, Patrick L. PY - 2019 DA - 2019/08/07 TI - Comparative virology of HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 JO - Retrovirology SP - 21 VL - 16 IS - 1 AB - Human T cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) was the first discovered human retrovirus and the etiologic agent of adult T-cell leukemia and HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis. Shortly after the discovery of HTLV-1, human T-cell leukemia virus type 2 (HTLV-2) was isolated from a patient with hairy cell leukemia. Despite possession of similar structural features to HTLV-1, HTLV-2 has not been definitively associated with lymphoproliferative disease. Since their discovery, studies have been performed with the goal of highlighting the differences between HTLV-1 and HTLV-2. A better understanding of these differences will shed light on the specific pathogenic mechanisms of HTLV-1 and lead to novel therapeutic targets. This review will compare and contrast the two oldest human retroviruses with regards to epidemiology, genomic structure, gene products, and pathobiology. SN - 1742-4690 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12977-019-0483-0 DO - 10.1186/s12977-019-0483-0 ID - Martinez2019 ER -