The Possible Role of JC Polyomavirus in Tumorigenesis of Glial Brain Malignancies

Introduction: The primary tumors of the central nervous system are still a significant health concern because of their unclear etiopathogenesis, limited treatment potentials and consequent poor prognosis. Aim: The current study aims to investigate and describe the possible role of the human polyomavirus JC in induction and development of glial malignancies. Material and Methods: Biopsies from 70 patients with primary brain tumors were taken from several areas of the tumor masses during neurosurgical operations and used for DNA extraction and subsequent amplification reactions of sequences from the JC viral genome. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was used for detection and quantification of its non-coding control region (NCCR) and gene encoding the regulatory protein Large T antigen (LT). Results: An average of 37.1% of all patients were found to be LT positive, whereas only 8.5% tested positive for NCCR. The analysis of the results showed significant variance between the determined LT prevalence and the rate for NCCR, with a low starting copy number in all positive samples and threshold cycles in the range of 36 to 42 representing viral load in the range from 10 to 1000 copies/μl. Conclusion: The results most probably indicate incomplete JC viral replication, which creates potentials for accumulating mutations in the host cell genome because of the interference between virus and the host cell machinery, that supposes eventual malignant transformation in it.