Replication of EBV in epithelial cells during infectious mononucleosis (original) (raw)

Nature volume 268, pages 268–270 (1977)Cite this article

Abstract

INFECTIOUS mononucleosis is caused by primary infection with the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)1,2. This virus is generally held to be trophic for B lymphocytes3–6, but only latently infected cells expressing a nuclear antigen (EBNA)7 have been found among circulating lymphocytes during infectious mononucleosis8. In spite of this, EBV is present in the orophoryngeal secretions of most patients with infectious mononucleosis, and virus continues to be shed in many normal persons for extended periods9,10. The source of this virus, a cell type which freely permits replication of EBV, has never been identified. An intriguing link has recently been advanced between EBV and the malignant epithelial cells of undifferentiated carcinoma of the nasopharynx. Patients with this malignancy maintain high titres of antibodies to the virus11. The tumour itself, which consists of malignant epithelial cells with many infiltrating lymphocytes, contains the EBV genome12. The EBV genetic material is in the malignant epithelial cells13,14, however, and not in the infiltrating lymphocytes which are predominantly T cells. Although superinfection of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells with EBV leads to the expression of specific early viral antigens15, these cells, like B lymphocytes, are only latently infected in vivo. The primary cell type infected by EBV probably occupies a pivotal position in the pathogenesis of both infectious mononucleosis and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. We report here evidence directly from human material that EBV replicates in epithelial cells of the oropharynx.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine and Cancer Research Center, Departments of Medicine and Bacteriology and Immunology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27514
    STANLEY M. LEMON, LINDSEY M. HUTT, JAMES E. SHAW, JUI-LIEN H. Li & JOSEPH S. PAGANO

Authors

  1. STANLEY M. LEMON
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  2. LINDSEY M. HUTT
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  3. JAMES E. SHAW
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  4. JUI-LIEN H. Li
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  5. JOSEPH S. PAGANO
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LEMON, S., HUTT, L., SHAW, J. et al. Replication of EBV in epithelial cells during infectious mononucleosis.Nature 268, 268–270 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/268268a0

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