Department of Cancer Pathology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo 060-8638, Japan.
Jpn J Infect Dis. 2013;66(2):126-32. doi: 10.7883/yoken.66.126.
JC virus (JCV) is a causative agent of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). Methyl CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2) is a transcriptional control nuclear protein that is abundantly expressed in neurons. We previously observed that the MeCP2 protein is expressed in JCV large T antigen (TAg)-expressing glial cells in PML brains. To investigate the relationship between MeCP2 and JCV TAg, we examined the promoter activity and mRNA and protein expression levels of MeCP2 in JCV TAg-expressing cells. We found that JCV TAg enhances the promoter activity of MeCP2, but does not enhance the mRNA and protein levels of MeCP2. These results suggest that post-transcriptional mechanisms may play a role in MeCP2 expression.
JC 病毒（JCV）是进行性多灶性白质脑病（PML）的病原体。甲基化 CpG 结合蛋白 2（MeCP2）是一种丰富表达于神经元中的转录调控核蛋白。我们之前观察到，MeCP2 蛋白在 PML 大脑中 JCV 大 T 抗原（TAg）表达的神经胶质细胞中表达。为了研究 MeCP2 与 JCV TAg 之间的关系，我们检测了 JCV TAg 表达细胞中 MeCP2 的启动子活性、mRNA 和蛋白表达水平。我们发现 JCV TAg 增强了 MeCP2 的启动子活性，但不增强 MeCP2 的 mRNA 和蛋白水平。这些结果表明，转录后机制可能在 MeCP2 表达中发挥作用。
