Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 1, 2026

Differentiation of the SH-SY5Y Human Neuroblastoma Cell Line
Published on: February 17, 2016
Molecular biology and immunoregulation of human neurotropic JC virus in CNS
Thersa M Sweet1, Luis Del Valle, Kamel Khalili
1Center for Neurovirology and Cancer Biology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA.
Abstract:
The human polyomavirus, JC virus (JCV), provides an excellent model system to investigate the reciprocal interaction of the immune and nervous systems. Infection with JCV occurs during childhood and the virus remains in the latent state with no apparent clinical symptoms. However, under immunosuppressed conditions, the virus enters the lytic cycle and upon cytolytic destruction of glial cells, causes the fatal demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS), named progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). In this short review, we discuss the molecular pathogenesis of PML by highlighting the role of the immune system in modulating JCV gene activation and replication, and the latency/reactivation of this virus upon immunosuppression. Further, due to the higher incidence of PML among AIDS patients, we further elaborate on the cross-talk between JCV and HIV-1 by direct and indirect pathways that lead to enhanced expression of the JCV genome.
Related Concept Videos
Encephalitis ll: Pathophysiology
Cytomegalovirus Disease
Inhibitors of Virion Maturation and Assembly
Arboviral Encephalitis
Immune Response Against Viral Pathogens
NK Cells
NK cells are a crucial part of our innate immune system, acting as the first line of defense against viral infections. These cells can recognize and kill infected cells without prior exposure to the virus, effectively slowing down the spread of infection. Additionally, NK cells produce proinflammatory...
Cytotoxic T Cells-mediated Immune Response
Immunological surveillance is the ability of immune cells to monitor and eliminate infected cells with intracellular pathogens, neoplastically transformed cells, and cells with non-self antigens. Cytotoxic T cells and NK...
