Activation of c-Myc and Cyclin D1 by JCV T-Antigen and β-catenin in colon cancer

PLoS One. 2014 Sep 17;9(9):e106257. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0106257. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

During the last decade, mounting evidence has implicated the human neurotropic virus JC virus in the pathology of colon cancer. However, the mechanisms of JC virus-mediated oncogenesis are still not fully determined. One candidate to mediate these effects is the viral early transcriptional product T-Antigen, which has the ability to inactivate cell cycle regulatory proteins such as p53. In medulloblastomas, T-Antigen has been shown to bind the Wnt signaling pathway protein β-catenin; however, the effects of this interaction on downstream cell cycle regulatory proteins remain unknown. In light of these observations, we investigated the association of T-Antigen and nuclear β-catenin in colon cancer cases and the effects of this complex in the activation of the transcription and cell cycle regulators c-Myc and Cyclin D1 in vitro. Gene amplification demonstrated the presence of viral sequences in 82.4% of cases and we detected expression of T-Antigen in 64.6% of cases by immunohistochemistry. Further, we found that T-Antigen and β-catenin co-localized in the nuclei of tumor cells and we confirmed the physical binding between these two proteins in vitro. The nuclear presence of T-Antigen and β-catenin resulted in the significant enhancement of TCF-dependent promoter activity and activation of the β-catenin downstream targets, c-Myc and Cyclin D1. These observations provide further evidence for a role of JCV T-Antigen in the dysregulation of the Wnt signaling pathway and in the pathogenesis of colon cancer.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Antigens, Viral, Tumor / metabolism*
  • Colonic Neoplasms / genetics
  • Colonic Neoplasms / immunology*
  • Colonic Neoplasms / metabolism*
  • Cyclin D1 / genetics
  • Cyclin D1 / metabolism*
  • HCT116 Cells
  • Humans
  • In Vitro Techniques
  • JC Virus / immunology*
  • JC Virus / metabolism*
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc / metabolism*
  • beta Catenin / genetics
  • beta Catenin / metabolism*

Substances

  • Antigens, Viral, Tumor
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc
  • beta Catenin
  • Cyclin D1