JC polyomavirus genome (Human polyomavirus 2) (JCV genome)

The JC polyomavirus genome (JCV genome), also known as Human polyomavirus 2 genome, is a circular double-stranded DNA molecule of approximately 5,130 nucleotide pairs that encodes key viral proteins including early nonstructural large T antigen, small t antigen, and late capsid proteins VP1, VP2, VP3, as well as the agnoprotein. It features a non-coding control region (NCCR) with variable tandem repeats that regulate early and late gene expression, viral replication origin, and tissue tropism, with archetype and rearranged variants associated with different infection sites. The genome drives JCV replication in permissive cells like glial cells via T-antigen binding to the origin and interaction with host factors, enabling viral uncoating in the endoplasmic reticulum and nuclear genome transport. In disease, JCV establishes lifelong asymptomatic infection in over 50% of adults but reactivates in immunocompromised individuals, causing progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a demyelinating brain disease with high fatality, and potentially aseptic meningitis. VP1 encoded by the genome binds sialylated glycans like LSTc for cell attachment, with structural specificity distinguishing JCV from related polyomaviruses. No approved drugs directly target the JCV genome, though its proteins like VP1 and T-antigen offer potential antiviral design platforms, limited by the virus's ubiquity and PML's occurrence mainly in immunosuppressed patients.

Other names

JC virus genomeJohn Cunningham virus genomeHuman polyomavirus 2 genome