Abstract
A recent report demonstrated that JC virus (JCV) employs serotonin receptor 2A (5HT2AR) to infect the glial cells. To assess the ability of a potent 5HT2AR blocker, risperidone, to inhibit JCV infection, the authors treated primary human fetal glial (PHFG) cells in vitro with risperidone for 24 h and inoculated with JCV(Mad1). There was no significant difference in JCV genome copies or mRNA transcripts and protein expression in treatment-naïve and risperidone-treated PHFG cells. These data indicate that risperidone does not inhibit JCV(Mad1) attachment, internalisation, and replication in PHFG cells, and 5HT2AR blockers may not be effective in treating progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML).
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by U.S. Public Health Service grants from the Collaborative Neurological Sciences Program (S11 NS041833) and the Specialized Neurosciences Research Program (U54 NS039406), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, as well as from the Research Centers in Minority Institutions Program (G12 RR003061) and Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (P20 RR018727), National Center for Research Resources, National Institutes of Health. The authors thank Dr. Pratibha V. Nerurkar for assistance with the ketanserin binding assay, and the staff and students of the Retrovirology Research Laboratory for their technical assistance. Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.