BK-Related Polyomavirus Vasculopathy in a Renal-Transplant Recipient

Abstract

Polyomaviruses typically infect a single species and limited types of tissue. Examples include the human BK and JC viruses and simian virus 40 (SV40). These three viruses are approximately 70 percent homologous with each other. They are nonenveloped viruses with a circular, double-stranded–DNA genome of 5 kb and a virion with a diameter of 45 nm.¹ Their genome has an early region encoding the large T and small t proteins, a late region encoding viral capsid proteins, and a noncoding regulatory region.