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Zheng HC, Xue H, Sun HZ, Yun WJ, Cui ZG. The potential oncogenic effect of tissue-specific expression of JC polyoma T antigen in digestive epithelial cells. Transgenic Res 2023; 32:305-319. [PMID: 37247123 PMCID: PMC10409682 DOI: 10.1007/s11248-023-00352-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2023] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
JC polyoma virus (JCPyV), a ubiquitous polyoma virus that commonly infects people, is identified as the etiologic factor for progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy and has been closely linked to various human cancers. Transgenic mice of CAG-loxp-Laz-loxp T antigen were established. T-antigen expression was specifically activated in gastroenterological target cells with a LacZ deletion using a cre-loxp system. Gastric poorly-differentiated carcinoma was observed in T antigen-activated mice using K19-cre (stem-like cells) and PGC-cre (chief cells), but not Atp4b-cre (parietal cells) or Capn8-cre (pit cells) mice. Spontaneous hepatocellular and colorectal cancers developed in Alb-cre (hepatocytes)/T antigen and villin-cre (intestinal cells)/T antigen transgenic mice respectively. Gastric, colorectal, and breast cancers were observed in PGC-cre/T antigen mice. Pancreatic insulinoma and ductal adenocarcinoma, gastric adenoma, and duodenal cancer were detected in Pdx1-cre/T antigen mice. Alternative splicing of T antigen mRNA occurred in all target organs of these transgenic mice. Our findings suggest that JCPyV T antigen might contribute to gastroenterological carcinogenesis with respect to cell specificity. Such spontaneous tumor models provide good tools for investigating the oncogenic roles of T antigen in cancers of the digestive system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hua-Chuan Zheng
- Department of Oncology and Central Laboratory, The Affiliated Hospital of Chengde Medical University, Chengde, 067000, China.
| | - Hang Xue
- Department of Oncology and Central Laboratory, The Affiliated Hospital of Chengde Medical University, Chengde, 067000, China
| | - Hong-Zhi Sun
- Cancer Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou, 121001, China
| | - Wen-Jing Yun
- Department of Oncology and Central Laboratory, The Affiliated Hospital of Chengde Medical University, Chengde, 067000, China
| | - Zheng-Guo Cui
- Department of Environmental Health, University of Fukui School of Medical Sciences, Fukui, 910-1193, Japan
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Zheng HC, E Y, Cui ZG, Zhao S, Zhang Y. The Oncogenic Roles of JC Virus T Antigen in Breast Carcinogenesis. Front Mol Biosci 2021; 8:687444. [PMID: 34476239 PMCID: PMC8406522 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.687444] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose: JC virus (JCV) infects 80–90% of the population and results in progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy upon immunodeficiency. The study aimed to pathologically clarify the oncogenic roles of T antigen in human breast cancers. Methods: Breast cancer, dysplasia, and normal tissues were examined for T antigen of JCV by nested and real-time PCR. The positive rate or copy number of T antigen was compared with clinicopathological parameters of breast cancer. JCV existence was morphologically detected by immunohistochemistry and in situ PCR. T antigen was examined by Western blot using frozen samples of breast cancer and paired normal tissues. Results: According to nested PCR, the positive rate of breast ductal or lobular carcinoma was lower than that of normal tissue (p < 0.05). T antigen existence was negatively correlated with E-cadherin expression and triple-negative breast cancer (p < 0.05), but positively correlated with lymph node metastasis and estrogen receptor and progestogen receptor expression (p < 0.05). Quantitative PCR showed that JCV copies were gradually decreased from normal, dysplasia to cancer tissues (p < 0.05). JCV T antigen copy number was lower in ductal adenocarcinoma than in normal tissue (p < 0.05), in line with in situ PCR and immunohistochemistry. JCV copies were negatively correlated with tumor size and E-cadherin expression (p < 0.05), but positively correlated with G grading of breast cancer (p < 0.05). Western blot also indicated weaker T antigen expression in breast cancer than normal tissues (p < 0.05). Conclusion: JCV T antigen might play an important role in breast carcinogenesis. It can be employed as a molecular marker for the differentiation and aggressive behaviors of breast cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hua-Chuan Zheng
- Department of Oncology and Experimental Center, The Affiliated Hospital of Chengde Medical University, Chengde, China
| | - Ying E
- Department of Oncology, Liaoning Cancer Hospital, Shenyang, China
| | - Zheng-Guo Cui
- Department of Environmental Health, University of Fukui School of Medical Science, Fukui, Japan
| | - Shuang Zhao
- Department of Oncology and Experimental Center, The Affiliated Hospital of Chengde Medical University, Chengde, China
| | - Yong Zhang
- Department of Pathology, Liaoning Cancer Hospital, Shenyang, China
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Del Valle L, Piña-Oviedo S. Human Polyomavirus JCPyV and Its Role in Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy and Oncogenesis. Front Oncol 2019; 9:711. [PMID: 31440465 PMCID: PMC6694743 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2019.00711] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2019] [Accepted: 07/17/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The human neurotropic virus JCPyV, a member of the Polyomaviridiae family, is the opportunistic infectious agent of Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML), a fatal disease seen in severe immunosuppressive conditions and, during the last decade, in patients undergoing immunotherapy. JCPyV is a ubiquitous pathogen with up to 85% of the adult population word-wide exhibiting antibodies against it. Early experiments demonstrated that direct inoculation of JCPyV into the brain of different species resulted in the development of brain tumors and other neuroectodermal-derived neoplasias. Later, several reports showed the detection of viral sequences in medulloblastomas and glial tumors, as well as expression of the viral protein T-Antigen. Few oncogenic viruses, however, have caused so much controversy regarding their role in the pathogenesis of brain tumors, but the discovery of new Polyomaviruses that cause Merkel cell carcinomas in humans and brain tumors in racoons, in addition to the role of JCPyV in colon cancer and multiple mechanistic studies have shed much needed light on the role of JCPyV in cancer. The pathways affected by the viral protein T-Antigen include cell cycle regulators, like p53 and pRb, and transcription factors that activate pro-proliferative genes, like c-Myc. In addition, infection with JCPyV causes chromosomal damage and T-Antigen inhibits homologous recombination, and activates anti-apoptotic proteins, such as Survivin. Here we review the different aspects of the biology and physiopathology of JCPyV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Del Valle
- Department of Pathology and Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center, Louisiana State University Health, New Orleans, LA, United States
| | - Sergio Piña-Oviedo
- Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, United States
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Delbue S, Comar M, Ferrante P. Review on the role of the human Polyomavirus JC in the development of tumors. Infect Agent Cancer 2017; 12:10. [PMID: 28174598 PMCID: PMC5292005 DOI: 10.1186/s13027-017-0122-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2016] [Accepted: 01/24/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Almost one fifth of human cancers worldwide are associated with infectious agents, either bacteria or viruses, and this makes the possible association between infections and tumors a relevant research issue. We focused our attention on the human Polyomavirus JC (JCPyV), that is a small, naked DNA virus, belonging to the Polyomaviridae family. It is the recognized etiological agent of the Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML), a fatal demyelinating disease, occurring in immunosuppressed individuals. JCPyV is able to induce cell transformation in vitro when infecting non-permissive cells, that do not support viral replication and JCPyV inoculation into small animal models and non human primates drives to tumor formation. The molecular mechanisms involved in JCPyV oncogenesis have been extensively studied: the main oncogenic viral protein is the large tumor antigen (T-Ag), that is able to bind, among other cellular factors, both Retinoblastoma protein (pRb) and p53 and to dysregulate the cell cycle, but also the early proteins small tumor antigen (t-Ag) and Agnoprotein appear to cooperate in the process of cell transformation. Consequently, it is not surprising that JCPyV genomic sequences and protein expression have been detected in Central Nervous System (CNS) tumors and colon cancer and an association between this virus and several brain and non CNS-tumors has been proposed. However, the significances of these findings are under debate because there is still insufficient evidence of a casual association between JCPyV and solid cancer development. In this paper we summarized and critically analyzed the published literature, in order to describe the current knowledge on the possible role of JCPyV in the development of human tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Serena Delbue
- Department of Biomedical, Surgical and Dental Sciences, University of Milano, Via Pascal, 36-20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Manola Comar
- Department of Medical Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy.,Institute for Maternal and Child Health-IRCCS "Burlo Garofolo", 34137 Trieste, Italy
| | - Pasquale Ferrante
- Department of Biomedical, Surgical and Dental Sciences, University of Milano, Via Pascal, 36-20133 Milan, Italy.,Istituto Clinico Città Studi, Milan, Italy
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Gou WF, Zhao S, Shen DF, Yang XF, Liu YP, Sun HZ, Luo JS, Zheng HC. The oncogenic role of JC virus T antigen in lens tumors without cell specificity of alternative splicing of its intron. Oncotarget 2016; 6:8036-45. [PMID: 25868857 PMCID: PMC4480733 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.3507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2015] [Accepted: 02/01/2015] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
JC virus (JCV), a ubiquitous polyoma virus that commonly infects the human, is identified as the etiologic agent for progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy and some malignancies. To clarify the oncogenic role of JCV T antigen, we established two transgenic mice of T antigen using either α-crystallin A (αAT) or cytokeratin 19(KT) promoter. Lens tumors were found in high-copy αAT mice with the immunopositivity of T antigen, p53, β-catenin and N-cadherin. Enlarged eyeballs were observed and tumor invaded into the brain by magnetic resonance imaging and hematoxylin-and-eosin staining. The overall survival time of homozygous mice was shorter than that of hemizygous mice (p<0.01), the latter than wild-type mice (p<0.01). The spontaneous salivary tumor and hepatocellular carcinoma were seen in αAT5 transgenic mice with no positivity of T antigen. KT7 mice suffered from lung tumor although JCV T antigen was strongly expressed in gastric epithelial cells. The alternative splicing of T antigen intron was detectable in the lens tumor of αAT mice, gastric mucosa of KT mice, and various cells transfected with pEGFP-N1-T antigen. It was suggested that JCV T antigen might induce carcinogenesis at a manner of cell specificity, which is not linked to alternative splicing of its intron. Both spontaneous lens and lung tumor models provide good tools to investigate the oncogenic role of JCV T antigen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wen-Feng Gou
- Cancer Research Center, Key Laboratory of Brain and Spinal Cord Injury of Liaoning Province, and Laboratory Animal Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Liaoning Medical University, Jinzhou, China
| | - Shuang Zhao
- Cancer Research Center, Key Laboratory of Brain and Spinal Cord Injury of Liaoning Province, and Laboratory Animal Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Liaoning Medical University, Jinzhou, China
| | - Dao-Fu Shen
- Cancer Research Center, Key Laboratory of Brain and Spinal Cord Injury of Liaoning Province, and Laboratory Animal Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Liaoning Medical University, Jinzhou, China
| | - Xue-Feng Yang
- Cancer Research Center, Key Laboratory of Brain and Spinal Cord Injury of Liaoning Province, and Laboratory Animal Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Liaoning Medical University, Jinzhou, China
| | - Yun-Peng Liu
- Department of Oncological Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China
| | - Hong-Zhi Sun
- Cancer Research Center, Key Laboratory of Brain and Spinal Cord Injury of Liaoning Province, and Laboratory Animal Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Liaoning Medical University, Jinzhou, China
| | - Jun-Sheng Luo
- Cancer Research Center, Key Laboratory of Brain and Spinal Cord Injury of Liaoning Province, and Laboratory Animal Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Liaoning Medical University, Jinzhou, China
| | - Hua-Chuan Zheng
- Cancer Research Center, Key Laboratory of Brain and Spinal Cord Injury of Liaoning Province, and Laboratory Animal Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Liaoning Medical University, Jinzhou, China
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Activation of c-Myc and Cyclin D1 by JCV T-Antigen and β-catenin in colon cancer. PLoS One 2014; 9:e106257. [PMID: 25229241 PMCID: PMC4167695 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0106257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2014] [Accepted: 07/30/2014] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
During the last decade, mounting evidence has implicated the human neurotropic virus JC virus in the pathology of colon cancer. However, the mechanisms of JC virus-mediated oncogenesis are still not fully determined. One candidate to mediate these effects is the viral early transcriptional product T-Antigen, which has the ability to inactivate cell cycle regulatory proteins such as p53. In medulloblastomas, T-Antigen has been shown to bind the Wnt signaling pathway protein β-catenin; however, the effects of this interaction on downstream cell cycle regulatory proteins remain unknown. In light of these observations, we investigated the association of T-Antigen and nuclear β-catenin in colon cancer cases and the effects of this complex in the activation of the transcription and cell cycle regulators c-Myc and Cyclin D1 in vitro. Gene amplification demonstrated the presence of viral sequences in 82.4% of cases and we detected expression of T-Antigen in 64.6% of cases by immunohistochemistry. Further, we found that T-Antigen and β-catenin co-localized in the nuclei of tumor cells and we confirmed the physical binding between these two proteins in vitro. The nuclear presence of T-Antigen and β-catenin resulted in the significant enhancement of TCF-dependent promoter activity and activation of the β-catenin downstream targets, c-Myc and Cyclin D1. These observations provide further evidence for a role of JCV T-Antigen in the dysregulation of the Wnt signaling pathway and in the pathogenesis of colon cancer.
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