Abstract:

BK virus (BKV) can cause BKV nephritis in renal transplant patients and has become a significant reason for graft loss. BKV is latent in the urogenital tract, and most likely is transported from the donor kidney to recipent. BKV reactivates in recipents, virus DNA replicates in the nucleus of renal epithelial tubular cells, and daughter viruses are released and enter other renal epithelial cells to spread infection. A lot of factors about the mechanism and kinetics of BKV infection remain unclear. There are mainly two ways of treating BKV infection, one is to reduce immunosuppressive agents, but this may increase the risk of rejection; the other is to use anti-viral drugs, but these therapies have inconsistent results. This review will describe the BKV entry in target human cells, intracellular trafficking pathways of BKV particles and potential therapeutic implications based on understanding of mechanisms of BKV.