Human Papovavirus (JC): Induction of Brain Tumors in Hamsters

Abstract

Eighty-three percent of hamsters inoculated at birth with JC virus, a human papovavirus isolated from brain tissue of a case of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, developed malignant gliomas within 6 months. Three brain tumors have been serially transplanted as subcutaneous tumors. JC virus was isolated from five of seven tumors tested. Cells from four tumors were cultivated in vitro. These cells contained an intranuclear antigen with the characteristics of a T antigen, and this antigen was antigenically related to SV40 T antigen. Although virus was not recovered from extracts of serially cultured tumor cells, JC virus was rescued when one tumor cell line was fused with permissive cells.

IRS‐1–Rad51 nuclear interaction sensitizes JCV T‐antigen positive medulloblastoma cells to genotoxic treatment

“…48,49 Intra-cerebral inoculation of newborn Golden Syrian hamsters with JCV has induced a broad range of tumors including medulloblastoma, astrocytoma and glioblastoma. 50,51 Injection of JCV into the brains of newborn rats causes undifferentiated neuroectodermal tumors in 75% of animals. 52 Among the viral proteins suspected to cause cellular transformation, the polyomavirus T-antigens have repeatedly been shown to transform cells in vitro and to induce tumor growth in experimental animals.…”

Viral variant nucleotide sequences help expose leukocytic positioning in the JC virus pathway to the CNS

“…Particular isolates of JCV, administered by various routes into hamsters and monkeys, induced the formation of neuroectodermal tumors [56][57][58][59][60][61]. A viral preparation from what was described as a Mad-1-induced owl monkey astrocytoma was injected into a second owl monkey (OWL586).…”

Human ubiquitous JCV(CY) T-antigen gene induces brain tumors in experimental animals

“…Although there is no direct evidence for tumorigenesis of JCV in the human CNS, the oncogenic potential of JCV(Mad) in several experimental models has been well established. More than 80% of neonatal hamsters inoculated intracerebrally, intraperitoneally, or subcutaneously with JCV(Mad) developed glioblastomas, medulloblastomas, neuroblastomas, pineocytomas, and other tumors of central nervous system (CNS) origin (Walker et al, 1973;ZuRhein, 1983ZuRhein, , 1987ZuRhein and Varakis, 1975). Intraocular inoculation of prototype JCV(Mad-1) in hamsters has also induced abdominal neuroblastomas which subsequently metastasized to other organs such as lymph nodes, liver and bone marrow (Ohashi et al, 1978;Varakis et al, 1976).…”