Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen-1 and Myc cooperate in lymphomagenesis

The lymphomagenic action of myc genes in conjunction with Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen-1 (EBNA-1) have been examined using transgenic mice in several separate tests. Synergy between Myc and EBNA-1 in lymphomagenesis was revealed in a cross breed study where co-expression of transgenic myc and EBNA-1 led to a tumor latency period reduced significantly in some crosses. In the resulting bitransgenic tumors, expression of the Emu-myc genes was not affected by EBNA-1 expression. MoMLV was utilized as a transposon tag to activate cellular oncogenes by infection of EmuEBNA-1 mice. Rearrangement at the c-myc locus in B cell tumors from these mice again suggests a cooperative action between myc and EBNA-1. Tumors arising in EmuEBNA-1 mice typically showed a trisomy of chromosome 15, upon which the c-myc locus resides. Bitransgenic tumors (EBNA-1/c-myc) did not show trisomy 15. This raises the possibility that amplification of c-myc is factorial in the selection of trisomy 15 in these tumors. These data indicate that myc and EBNA-1 act cooperatively and are not redundant in lymphomagenesis. Expression of EBNA-1 by EBV may provide a selection pressure in addition to translocation of the c-myc locus in the genesis of endemic Burkitt's lymphoma (BL).