Molecular Characterization of the Epstein-Barr Virus in Malignant Tumors of Different Origins: An Emphasis on EBER Promoter Value for EBV Classification.

BACKGROUND

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a well-known cause of infectious mononucleosisand it has also been linked to the development of various malignant tumors. EBV can be classified into two genotypes based on EBNA-2 and EBNA-3 polymorphisms, with further subclassification predominantly based on BNLF-1 and EBNA-1 variations. Currently, EBV subtyping has not been performed using EBER genes. Thus, this study aimed to determine EBV subtypes in various malignant tumors and to assess the potential of EBER polymorphisms for EBV classification.

METHODS

DNA was isolated from tissue samples of patients diagnosed with classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL), angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma (AITL), and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Specific fragments of the BNLF-1, EBNA-1, EBNA-3C, and EBER genes were amplified, and population sequencing was conducted.

RESULTS

Based on EBNA-3C sequences, all tumor samples were genotype EBV-1, whereas the BNLF-1, EBNA-1, and EBER sequences indicated that the tumor tissues were infected with different EBV subtypes. The B95-8 subtype predominated in cHL, whereas North Carolina and P-ala were the most frequent subtypes in NPC. In addition, we propose a newly designed algorithm for EBER-based subclassification, which showed that the subtype Cro2 is more frequently present in cHL and AITL than in NPC.

CONCLUSION

The results of this study show characteristic pattern of EBV diversity based on the EBNA-3C, EBNA-1, and BNLF-1 gene sequences, as well as the EBER promoter sequence in AITL, NPC, and cHL cohorts specific for the Caucasian population of southeastern Europe; however, these results may not relate to the distribution of EBV variants in other geographic areas.