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EBV persistence involves strict selection of latently infected B cells.
A M Joseph1, G J Babcock, D A Thorley-Lawson
1Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02138, USA.
Journal of Immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950)
|September 7, 2000
Summary
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) persists in a specific memory B cell subset in the blood, not naive cells. This restriction in peripheral blood suggests a unique site for long-term, non-pathogenic EBV infection.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Virology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) establishes persistent infections.
- The recirculating memory B cell pool was hypothesized as the reservoir for long-lived EBV infection.
- CD27 is a newly identified marker for memory B cells.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the specific B cell subsets harboring persistent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection in peripheral blood.
- To test the hypothesis that the memory B cell pool is the primary site of EBV persistence.
Main Methods:
- Utilized CD27 as a specific marker to identify memory B cells.
- Quantified EBV-infected cells within naive (IgD+, CD27-) and memory (IgD+, CD27+) B cell populations.
- Assessed EBV presence in CD5+ B1 cells and compared peripheral blood findings with tonsillar B cells.
Main Results:
- EBV infection is highly restricted in peripheral blood, with <1 in 1000 infected cells being naive and <1 in 250 being IgD+ memory cells.
- EBV was undetectable in self-renewing peripheral CD5+ or B1 cells.
- While EBV accessed diverse B cell subsets in tonsils, it was restricted to IgD-, CD27+, CD5- memory B cells in the periphery.
Conclusions:
- EBV is tightly restricted to a specific long-lived memory B cell compartment (IgD-, CD27+, CD5-) in the peripheral blood.
- This compartmentalization may allow EBV latency genes to switch off, creating a non-pathogenic, immune-evasive reservoir.
- Understanding this restriction is key to comprehending persistent EBV infection dynamics.