Tropical spastic paraparesis/HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (PET/HAM) is involved in the development of autoimmune diseases including Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), and Sjögren's Syndrome (SS).
Our results suggest that virus-infected T cells escape Fas-mediated immune surveillance by the function of Tax and FAP-1, and this escape may be involved in the autoimmune condition observed in HAM/TSP patients.