Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the Merkel cell polyomavirus in the skin tumors.

<p>Six MCPyV gene fragments were detected in Merkel cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma (BCC), and actinic keratosis (AK). Cases involving synchronous or metachronous metastases are marked with an asterisk. Specific PCR fragments, including large T (LT)2, VP1, and VP2, were not amplified constantly in AK cases 2 and 3 (see text). To clarify, we replaced this part with a picture of successful amplification in another trial. Abbreviations: BCC, basal cell carcinoma; AK, actinic keratosis; 293T, polyomavirus SV40 T antigen-positive 293 cells. The lower panel indicates the single PCR proliferation band of the CDC25 gene.