Isolation and characterization of a novel putative human polyomavirus

•Isolation of a novel putative human polyomavirus (LIPyV), phylogenetically related to the raccoon PyV.•Characterization of its genome.•Determination of the expression profile of the early genes (small T-antigen, large T-antigen, 148 T-antigen and ALTO).•Low LIPyV prevalence in human skin swab, oral gargle, and eyebrow hair samples.

The small double-stranded DNA polyomaviruses (PyVs) form a family of 73 species, whose natural hosts are primarily mammals and birds. So far, 13 PyVs have been isolated in humans, and some of them have clearly been associated with several diseases, including cancer. In this study, we describe the isolation of a novel PyV in human skin using a sensitive degenerate PCR protocol combined with next-generation sequencing. The new virus, named Lyon IARC PyV (LIPyV), has a circular genome of 5269 nucleotides. Phylogenetic analyses showed that LIPyV is related to the raccoon PyV identified in neuroglial tumours in free-ranging raccoons.Analysis of human specimens from cancer-free individuals showed that 9 skin swabs (9/445; 2.0%), 3 oral gargles (3/140; 2.1%), and one eyebrow hair sample (1/439; 0.2%) tested positive for LIPyV.Future biological and epidemiological studies are needed to confirm the human tropism and provide insights into its biological properties.