Strategies for the economic preparation of Epstein-Barr virus proteins of diagnostic and protective value by genetic engineering: a new approach based on segments of virus-encoded gene products.

Immunoprecipitation of Epstein-Barr viral proteins with various sera from normal adults, patients with fresh infectious mononucleosis or nasopharyngeal carcinoma was used to identify antigens which are of importance in the determination of immune status and characteristic of a particular disease. Some genes coding for of these antigens have been localized on the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genome by hybrid-selected translation. With the use of sequence data, these genes could then be subcloned from EBV DNA and expressed in eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. Data on the expression are presented and the application of the methods described for the production of diagnostic reagents and vaccines is discussed.