Activation of the alternative complement pathway by EBV and the viral envelope glycoprotein, gp350

The EBV-producing B lymphoblastoid cell line B95-8 was found to efficiently activate the alternative C pathway whether assessed with Mg-EGTA-treated human serum or with mixtures of the purified proteins of the pathway (PAP). The ability of the cells to activate was markedly increased after stimulation of EBV replication by treatment of the cells with a phorbol ester, and decreased by treatment of the cells with a viral polymerase inhibitor. Alternative pathway activation was dependent on the presence of either properdin or EBV-immune IgG; the addition of either alone to the PAP led to the deposition of 200,000 C3 molecules/cell. The addition of both properdin and immune IgG to the PAP markedly increased C3 binding to a level of 800,000 molecules/cell. Several lines of evidence indicate that the major external glycoprotein of EBV, gp350, mediates alternative pathway activation by B95-8 cells. First, the ability to activate C positively correlated with gp350 expression on the surface of the EBV-producing cells and gp350- cells failed to activate; second, the anti-EBV antibody in immune human sera which enhanced activation specifically immunoprecipitated gp350 from membranes of B95-8 cells; third, a significant proportion of the C3 which became bound to the cells during activation was attached either to gp350 or to the anti-gp350 antibody found in immune human sera; and fourth, purified gp350, as well as EBV, efficiently activated the alternative pathway. These results indicate that gp350, an EBV envelope glycoprotein, is an efficient alternative pathway activator and its expression on cell membranes is associated with the ability to activate C.