Differential expression of the major histocompatibility antigen complex (MHC) on a series of Burkitt's lymphoma lines.

We compared the expressions of class I and class II major histocompatibility antigen complex (MHC) on the surface of Jijoye and P3HR-1 cells of Burkitt's lymphoma sublines. Jijoye cells had a large amount of class I and class II MHC antigens, whereas these antigens were less expressed on P3HR-1 cells. On a subline of P3HR-1 K cells the expression of class I antigen markedly diminished and class II antigen was undetectable. On the other hand, Jijoye, P3HR-1, and P3HR-1 K cell lines were confirmed to be Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) nonproducer, low producer, and high producer, respectively. The chemical activation of EBV genome by treating P3HR-1 cells with 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13 acetate (TPA) and n-butyrate resulted in inhibition of the expression of class I and II antigens, while the addition of retinoic acid, an inhibitor of virus replication, blocked the decrease in the MHC antigen expression. These findings suggested that there might be an inverse correlation between the virus production and the expression of class I and II MHC antigens.