Antigenic variation of the Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen EBNA1 as revealed by monoclonal antibodies.

The Epstein Barr virus (EBV) nuclear antigen EBNA1 plays an essential role in the replication of EBV episomes in latently infected cells and is the only viral protein that is consistently expressed in all programs of latent EBV gene expression. In this study, four monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) directed to a region (amino acid residues 442-530) of EBNA1 were generated. Competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) experiments using biotinylated MoAbs showed that they recognized distinct epitopes. Reactivity of these MoAbs with various laboratory EBV strains and field EBV isolates was shown to be heterogeneous in that EBNA1 from certain strains (isolates) was recognized and that from others was not. All four MoAbs showed such heterogeneous reactivity, and moreover, each MoAb showed a distinct spectrum of reactivity with these EBV strains (isolates). These results demonstrate an extensive structural variation in this region of EBNA1 as predicted by previous sequencing studies. These MoAbs will be useful as probes to dissect this structural heterogeneity of EBNA1.