Identification of potential hot spots in the carboxy-terminal part of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), BNLF-1 gene in both malignant and benign EBV-associated diseases : high frequency of a 30-bp deletion in Malaysian and Danish peripheral T-cell lymphomas

• Published in: Blood Vol. 84; no. 12; pp. 4053 - 4060
• Main Authors: SANDVEJ, K, SUAT-CHENG PEH, ANDRESEN, B. S, PALLESEN, G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC The Americain Society of Hematology 15-12-1994
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Antigens, Viral - genetics; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Denmark; DNA, Neoplasm - genetics; DNA, Viral - genetics; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; Gene Frequency; Genes, Viral; Genetics; Herpesviridae Infections - microbiology; Herpesvirus 4, Human - genetics; Herpesvirus 4, Human - isolation & purification; Hodgkin Disease - microbiology; Humans; Infectious Mononucleosis - microbiology; Lymphoma, T-Cell, Peripheral - microbiology; Malaysia; Microbiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Sequence Deletion; Tumor Virus Infections - microbiology; Viral Matrix Proteins - genetics; Viral Structural Proteins - genetics; Virology; Denmark; Malaysia; Gammaherpesvirinae; Virus; Human; Polymerase chain reaction; C terminal peptide; Herpesviridae; Epstein Barr virus; Mutation
• ISSN: 0006-4971; 1528-0020
• DOI: 10.1182/blood.V84.12.4053.bloodjournal84124053

In this study, we have sequenced the C-terminal part of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-BNLF-1 gene encoding for the latent membrane protein-1 from tissues of EBV-positive Danish Hodgkin's disease (HD) and of Danish and Malaysian peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTLs) and from tonsils of Danish infectious mononucleosis (IM). Our study showed that some of the 7 single-base mutations and the 30-bp deletion previously detected between codons of amino acid 322 and 366 in the BNLF-1 gene of the nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line CAO were present in all Malaysian PTLs and in 60% of the Danish PTLs. In HD and the IM cases, the mutations were present in about 30%. The 30-bp deletion and the single base mutations occurred independently, and mutations were detectable in the majority of EBV type B-positive cases. These findings suggest that the 30-bp deletion and the 7 single-base mutations in the C-terminal part of the CAO-BNLF-1 gene do not characterize a new EBV type A substrain. Rather, some of the positions of single base mutations and the 30-bp deletion are hot spots that may have mutated independently through the evolution of EBV strains.