Epstein-Barr virus infection precedes clonal expansion in Burkitt's and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-associated lymphoma.

TitleEpstein-Barr virus infection precedes clonal expansion in Burkitt's and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-associated lymphoma.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication1991
AuthorsNeri A, Barriga F, Inghirami G, Knowles DM, Neequaye J, Magrath IT, Dalla-Favera R
JournalBlood
Volume77
Issue5
Pagination1092-5
Date Published1991 Mar 01
ISSN0006-4971
KeywordsAcquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Blotting, Southern, Burkitt Lymphoma, DNA, Viral, Herpesvirus 4, Human, Humans, Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin, Neoplastic Stem Cells
Abstract

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is associated with distinct forms of human lymphoid malignancies, including the endemic (eBL) and sporadic forms of Burkitt's lymphoma (sBL) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-associated non-Hodgkin lymphoma (AIDS-NHL). However, whether EBV has a pathogenetic role in these tumors or is a passenger virus has not been conclusively demonstrated. One element to distinguish between these two possibilities is to determine whether EBV infection has preceded and, thus, possibly contributed to clonal expansion, or whether infection has occurred after clonal expansion and thus is unlikely to contribute to pathogenesis. Toward this end we analyzed the structure of the heterogeneous genomic termini of EBV as markers of clonal infection in a panel of eBL (11 cases), sBL (9 cases), and AIDS-NHL (10 cases) biopsies. We show that EBV termini are uniformly clonal in sBL, eBL, and AIDS-NHL, strongly suggesting that EBV infection has preceded and, thus, most likely contributed to clonal expansion in these malignancies.

Alternate JournalBlood
PubMed ID1847310
Grant ListCA-37295 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
CA48236 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
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