title: JC virus infection of hematopoietic progenitor cells, primary B lymphocytes, and tonsillar stromal cells: implications for viral latency.
abstract: The human polyomavirus JC virus (JCV) infects myelin-producing cells in the central nervous system, resulting in the fatal demyelinating disease progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). JCV-induced PML occurs most frequently in immunosuppressed individuals, with the highest incidence in human immunodeficiency type 1-infected patients, ranging between 4 and 6% of all AIDS cases. Although JCV targets a highly specialized cell in the central nervous system, infection is widespread, with more than 80% of the human population worldwide demonstrating serum antibodies. A number of clinical and laboratory studies have now linked the pathogenesis of PML with JCV infection in lymphoid cells. For example, JCV-infected lymphocytes have been suggested as possible carriers of virus to the brain following reactivation of a latent infection in lymphoid tissues. To further define the cellular tropism associated with JCV, we have attempted to infect immune system cells, including CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells derived from human fetal liver, primary human B lymphocytes, and human tonsillar stromal cells. Our results demonstrate that these cell types as well as a CD34+ human cell line, KG-1a, are susceptible to JCV infection. JCV cannot, however, infect KG-1, a CD34+ cell line which differentiates into a macrophage-like cell when treated with phorbol esters. In addition, peripheral blood B lymphocytes isolated by flow cytometry from a PML patient demonstrate JCV infection. These results provide direct evidence that JCV is not strictly neurotropic but can infect CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells and those cells which have differentiated into a lymphocytic, but not monocytic, lineage.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Neuroscience, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Monaco
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Atwood
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gravell
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Tornatore
authors.forename: E O
authors.initials: EO
authors.lastname: Major
mesh_terms: D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000821:virology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D007577:JC Virus / Q000502:physiology*; D009928:Organ Specificity; D014066:Palatine Tonsil / Q000821:virology; D027601:Polyomavirus Infections / Q000821:virology*; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000821:virology*; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000821:virology*; D017735:Virus Latency