SV40 Large T antigen

SV40 is an abbreviation for Simian vacuolating virus 40 or Simian virus 40, a polyomavirus that is found in both monkeys and humans. It was named for the effect it produced on infected green monkey cells, which developed an unusual number of vacuoles. Isoform large T antigen is a key early protein essential for both driving viral replication and inducing cellular transformation. It plays a role in viral genome replication by driving entry of quiescent cells into the cell cycle and by autoregulating the synthesis of viral early mRNA.