Epstein-Barr virus infection and persistence in nasopharyngeal epithelial cells

• Published in: Ai zheng Vol. 33; no. 11; pp. 549 - 555
• Main Authors: Tsang, Chi Man, Deng, Wen, Yip, Yim Ling, Zeng, Mu-Sheng, Lo, Kwok Wai, Tsao, Sai Wah
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Department of Anatomy%School of Nursing, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China%State Key Laboratory of 0ncology in South China, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510060, China%Department of Anatomical and Celular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China 01-11-2014; Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center
• Subjects: Carcinoma; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; Cells, Cultured; Epithelial Cells; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections; Herpesvirus 4, Human; Humans; Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms; Nasopharynx; Precancerous Conditions; Review; nasopharyngeal carcinoma; integrins; Epstein-Barr virus; epithelial cels; latency
• ISSN: 1000-467X; 1944-446X
• DOI: 10.5732/cjc.014.10169

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection is closely associated with undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), strongly implicating a role for EBV in NPC pathogenesis; conversely, EBV infection is rarely detected in normal nasopharyngeal epithelial tissues. In general, EBV does not show a strong tropism for infecting human epithelial cells, and EBV infection in oropharyngeal epithelial cells is believed to be lytic in nature. To establish life-long infection in humans, EBV has evolved efficient strategies to infect B cells and hijack their cellular machinery for latent infection. Lytic EBV infection in oropharyngeal epithelial cells, though an infrequent event, is believed to be a major source of infectious EBV particles for salivary transmission. The biological events associated with nasopharyngeal epithelial cells are only beginning to be understood with the advancement of EBV infection methods and the availability of nasopharyngeal epithelial cell models for EBV infection studies. EBV infection in human epithelial cells is a highly inefficient process compared to that in B cells, which express the complement receptor type 2 (CR2) to mediate EBV infection. Although receptor(s) on the epithelial cell surface for EBV infection remain(s) to be identified, EBV infection in epithelial cells could be achieved via the interaction of glycoproteins on the viral envelope with surface integrins on epithelial cells, which might trigger membrane fusion to internalize EBV in cells. Normal nasopharyngeal epithelial cells are not permissive for latent EBV infection, and EBV infection in normal nasopharyngeal epithelial cells usually results in growth arrest. However, genetic alterations in premalignant nasopharyngeal epithelial cells, including p16 deletion and cyclin D1 overexpression, could override the growth inhibitory effect of EBV infection to support stable and latent EBV infection in nasopharyngeal epithelial cells. The EBV episome in NPC is clonal in nature, suggesting that NPC develops from a single EBV-infected nasopharyngeal epithelial cell, and the establishment of persistent and latent EBV infection in premalignant nasopharyngeal epithelium may represent an early and critical event for NPC development.