Generation and characterization of JCV permissive hybrid cell lines

JC virus (JCV) is a human neurotropic polyomavirus whose replication in the central nervous system induces the fatal demyelinating disease, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). JCV particles have been detected primarily in oligodendrocytes and astrocytes of the brains of patients with PML and in the laboratory its propagation is limited to primary cultures of human fetal glial cells. In this short communication, the development of a new cell culture system is described through the fusion of primary human fetal astrocytes with the human glioblastoma cell line, U-87MG. The new hybrid cell line obtained from this fusion has the capacity to support efficiently expression of JCV and replication of viral DNA in vitro up to 16 passages. This cell line can serve as a reliable culture system to study the biology of JCV host-cell interaction, determine the mechanisms involved in cell type specific replication of JCV, and provide a convenient cell culture system for high throughput screening of anti-viral agents.