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Evidencing the presence of merkel cell polyomavirus in papillary thyroid cancer

ABSTRACT: Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) infects most people asymptomatically, but recent reports indicate that the virus may be related to carcinogenesis. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of MCPyV on the development of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). Totally, 1057 samples, including 412 fresh biopsy samples (FBS) and 645 paraffin-embedded PTC biopsy samples (PEBS), and 1057 adjacent non-cancerous samples were assessed for the presence of MCPyV DNA and RNA. MCPyV DNA was positive in 215 (20.3%) of samples, including 126 (30.6%) in FBS and 89 (13.8%) in PEBS. In MCPyV-positive samples, the mean MCPyV copy number was higher in the patients with FBS (2.3 × 10–1 ± 0.5 × 10–1 copies/cell) compared to PEBS (0.7 × 10–4 ± 0.1 × 10–4 copies/cell) and adjacent non-PTC normal samples (0.3 × 10–5 ± 0.02 × 10–5 copies/cell), indicating a statistically significant difference (P < 0.001). The LT-Ag RNA expression was higher in FBS compared to PEBS, while VP1 gene transcript was not detected in any samples. Although our findings showed the presence of MCPyV in a subset of PTC Iranian patients, further research is required to confirm these findings.

SUBMITTER: Ghanghareh M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8563948 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundMerkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) has been detected in approximately 75% of patients with the rare skin cancer Merkel cell carcinoma. We investigated the prevalence of antibodies against MCPyV in the general population and the association between these antibodies and Merkel cell carcinoma.MethodsMultiplex antibody-binding assays were used to assess levels of antibodies against polyomaviruses in plasma. MCPyV VP1 antibody levels were determined in plasma from 41 patients with Merkel cell carcinoma and 76 matched control subjects. MCPyV DNA was detected in tumor tissue specimens by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Seroprevalence of polyomavirus-specific antibodies was determined in 451 control subjects. MCPyV strain-specific antibody recognition was investigated by replacing coding sequences from MCPyV strain 350 with those from MCPyV strain w162.ResultsWe found that 36 (88%) of 41 patients with Merkel cell carcinoma carried antibodies against VP1 from MCPyV w162 compared with 40 (53%) of the 76 control subjects (odds ratio adjusted for age and sex = 6.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.3 to 18.8). MCPyV DNA was detectable in 24 (77%) of the 31 Merkel cell carcinoma tumors available, with 22 (92%) of these 24 patients also carrying antibodies against MCPyV. Among 451 control subjects from the general population, prevalence of antibodies against human polyomaviruses was 92% (95% CI = 89% to 94%) for BK virus, 45% (95% CI = 40% to 50%) for JC virus, 98% (95% CI = 96% to 99%) for WU polyomavirus, 90% (95% CI = 87% to 93%) for KI polyomavirus, and 59% (95% CI = 55% to 64%) for MCPyV. Few case patients had reactivity against MCPyV strain 350; however, indistinguishable reactivities were found with VP1 from strain 350 carrying a double mutation (residues 288 and 316) and VP1 from strain w162.ConclusionInfection with MCPyV is common in the general population. MCPyV, but not other human polyomaviruses, appears to be associated with Merkel cell carcinoma.

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Evidencing the presence of merkel cell polyomavirus in papillary thyroid cancer

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