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Updated: Jun 24, 2026

Establishment of Epstein-Barr Virus Growth-transformed Lymphoblastoid Cell Lines
Published on: November 8, 2011
The role of Epstein-Barr virus-encoded small RNAs (EBERs) in oncogenesis
1Department of Tumor Virology, Institute for Genetic Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
Abstract:
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-encoded RNAs (EBERs) are the most abundant viral transcripts in latently EBV-infected cells. Recently, we found that EBERs play a key role in the maintenance of malignant phenotypes of Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) cells. They confer clonability in soft agarose, tumorigenicity in immunodeficient mice, resistance to apoptosis and induction of interleukin (IL)-10, which acts as an autocrine growth factor of BL cells. Furthermore, we demonstrated that EBERs confer resistance to interferon (IFN)-alpha-induced apoptosis by inhibition of double-stranded (ds) RNA-activated protein kinase (PKR), which is the key mediator of the antiviral effect of IFN-alpha. These studies provide a new notion that RNA molecules contribute to oncogenesis.
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