{"id":1874,"date":"2025-12-31T00:52:58","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T05:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.creative-diagnostics.com\/blog\/?p=1874"},"modified":"2025-12-31T00:53:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T05:53:00","slug":"jc-polyomavirus-the-quiet-passenger-that-might-fuel-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.creative-diagnostics.com\/blog\/index.php\/jc-polyomavirus-the-quiet-passenger-that-might-fuel-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"JC Polyomavirus: The Quiet Passenger That Might Fuel Cancer<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Decades ago, when JC polyomavirus (JCPyV) was first isolated, scientists could hardly have imagined that the small non-enveloped DNA virus could be a candidate for the etiological agent of human malignancies. Today, however, JCPyV is already on the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Group 2B (\u201cpossibly carcinogenic to humans\u201d) list, primarily because of the presence of the genetic information for strong oncoproteins, such as the large T antigen. As knowledge about viral oncology has been progressing, a number of questions have arisen in the minds of scientists concerning JCPyV: how does it enter and infect humans? why does it persist for so long in the body? and, most importantly, does it have the potential to cause cancer? This article reviews the biology of JCPyV, including infection and persistence in the body and recent advances in tumor development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is JCPyV?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polyomaviruses are small, non-enveloped viruses with icosahedral symmetry and circular double-stranded DNA genomes. They were originally discovered in mice, where infection could trigger tumors in multiple organs\u2014thus the name poly-oma. In 1971, researchers identified the first human polyomavirus while studying the brain tissue of a patient named John Cunningham, who suffered from progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML)\u2014a severe demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. The virus was named JC polyomavirus in his honor.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Figure 1. JCPyV cellular entry may occur through multiple pathways.(Source: Atkinson AL, et al.<\/em>; 2020)\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around the same time, another human polyomavirus, BKPyV, was isolated from a kidney-transplant patient. Since then, scientists have identified more than ten human polyomaviruses, including the now well-known Merkel cell polyomavirus, which is definitively linked to Merkel cell carcinoma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although JCPyV infection is extremely common\u201470\u201380% of adults carry antibodies\u2014its disease manifestations are rare. Most primary infections occur during childhood and are clinically silent. After this initial encounter, the virus goes into hiding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where Does JCPyV Hide?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once inside the body, JCPyV establishes latent, persistent infections in multiple tissues, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n