Abstract
BackgroundThe Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) nuclear antigen 2 (EBNA-2) plays a key role in the B-cell growth transformation by initiating and maintaining the proliferation of infected B-cell upon EBV infection in vitro. Most studies about EBNA-2 have focused on its functions yet little is known for its intertypic polymorphisms.ResultsCoding region for amino acid (aa) 148-487 of the EBNA-2 gene was sequenced in 25 EBV-associated gastric carcinomas (EBVaGCs), 56 nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPCs) and 32 throat washings (TWs) from healthy donors in Northern China. Three variations (g48991t, c48998a, t49613a) were detected in all of the samples (113/113, 100%). EBNA-2 could be classified into four distinct subtypes: E2-A, E2-B, E2-C and E2-D based on the deletion status of three aa (294Q, 357K and 358G). Subtypes E2-A and E2-C were detected in 56/113 (49.6%), 38/113 (33.6%) samples, respectively. E2-A was observed more in EBVaGCs samples and subtype E2-D was only detected in the NPC samples. Variation analysis in EBNA-2 functional domains: the TAD residue (I438L) and the NLS residues (E476G, P484H and I486T) were only detected in NPC samples which located in the carboxyl terminus of EBNA-2 gene.ConclusionsThe subtypes E2-A and E2-C were the dominant genotypes of the EBNA-2 gene in Northern China. The subtype E2-D may be associated with the tumorigenesis of NPC. The NPC isolates were prone harbor to more mutations than the other two groups in the functional domains.
Highlights
The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) nuclear antigen 2 (EBNA-2) plays a key role in the B-cell growth transformation by initiating and maintaining the proliferation of infected B-cell upon EBV infection in vitro
Sequence variation of EBNA-2 gene The sequences of EBNA-2 gene for aa 148-487 were determined in 25 EBV-associated gastric carcinomas (EBVaGCs), 56 nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPCs) and 32 throat washings (TWs) samples by PCR sequencing
The E2-D pattern was only detected in the NPC samples (Table 1)
Summary
The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) nuclear antigen 2 (EBNA-2) plays a key role in the B-cell growth transformation by initiating and maintaining the proliferation of infected B-cell upon EBV infection in vitro. EBV plays an important role in various human tumors, such as Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL), nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) [2,3,4] and causes the benign lymphoproliferative disease infectious mononucleosis [5]. It is associated with 10% of gastric carcinomas (GC) [6,7], often called EBVassociated gastric carcinoma (EBVaGC). The role of EBNA-2 in B-cell growth transformation is closely linked to transactivation of cellular and viral gene expression. By activating viral as well as cellular target genes, EBNA-2 initiates the transcription of a cascade of primary and secondary target genes, which eventually govern the activation of the resting B-cell, cell cycle entry and proliferation of the growth transformed cells
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