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Updated: May 4, 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
Human natural killer cells prevent infectious mononucleosis features by targeting lytic Epstein-Barr virus infection
Obinna Chijioke1, Anne Müller1, Regina Feederle2
1Department of Viral Immunobiology, Institute of Experimental Immunology, University of Zürich, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Primary infection with the human oncogenic Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) can result in infectious mononucleosis (IM), a self-limiting disease caused by massive lymphocyte expansion that predisposes for the development of distinct EBV-associated lymphomas. Why some individuals experience this symptomatic primary EBV infection, whereas the majority acquires the virus asymptomatically, remains unclear. Using a mouse model with reconstituted human immune system components, we show that depletion of human natural killer (NK) cells enhances IM symptoms and promotes EBV-associated tumorigenesis mainly because of a loss of immune control over lytic EBV infection. These data suggest that failure of innate immune control by human NK cells augments symptomatic lytic EBV infection, which drives lymphocyte expansion and predisposes for EBV-associated malignancies.
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