Hello,
My topic of research is Avian Leukosis Virus (ALV). I have noticed that there are some old research papers that showed that when injecting chicken cells infected with Rous Sarcoma Virus (a close relative) in the brain, tumors would appear in non-avian animals such as mouse or monkeys. And those tumors are of host origin.
Basically they conclude that a virus specific to birds, that has not been reported to infect non-avians, can cause disease if introduced in the brain through experimental methods.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4301953/
https://cir.nii.ac.jp/crid/1390282680507937152
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/cancersci1959/64/6/64_6_641/_article
I haven't found current papers on this issue so my question is: Do we know of a mechanism that explains this? or is the methodology flawed? Do you know of a similar phenomenon in other viruses?
Self-answer
Retroviral proteins can be fusogenic and cause the entry of viral RNA when two cells, one permissive and the other non-permissive are in contact. This leads to integration, and, if the ASLV has an oncogene, to oncogenesis in the host cells but apparently not to viral replication (Despite the fact that most transcription factors are very conserved between mammals and avians, I still don't know the answer about why it happens).
Svoboda, J. (2015). Cell association in Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV) rescue and cell infection. Folia Biologica (Czech Republic), 61(5), 161–167.
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