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Updated: Oct 2, 2026
An Efficient and Simple Method to Establish NK and T Cell Lines from Patients with Chronic Active Epstein-Barr Virus Infection
Published on: March 30, 2018
Evidence for trafficking of Epstein-Barr virus strains between hairy leukoplakia and peripheral blood lymphocytes
Joel M Palefsky1, Jennifer Berline1, Deborah Greenspan1
1Departments of Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine1 and Stomatology, School of Dentistry2, and the Oral AIDS Center3, University of California San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94143-0126, USA.
Abstract:
Hairy leukoplakia (HL), an epithelial lesion found on the side of the tongue in immunocompromised individuals, is characterized by high-level replication of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and multiple EBV strains. The source of these strains and their relationship to peripheral blood lymphocyte (PBL) strains has not previously been characterized. Using matched pairs of HL scrapings and PBL from 16 HIV-positive men, variation in EBV strain identity was characterized by detection of a 30 nucleotide deletion of the EBV latent membrane protein (LMP)-1 gene, variation in the LMP-1 repeat region and typing for Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen (EBNA)-2. Multiple EBV strains were found in both the HL and PBL specimens, but 13 of 16 (81%) patients showed evidence of strain identity for at least one strain and analysis of two patients suggested that EBV strains from HL could infect the PBL. Our data are consistent with active trafficking of EBV between these two compartments.
