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Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Establishment of Epstein-Barr Virus Growth-transformed Lymphoblastoid Cell Lines
Published on: November 8, 2011
EBV infection of T cells: potential role in malignant transformation
C A Kelleher1, D H Dreyfus, J F Jones
1Department of Pediatrics, National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine, Denver 80206, USA.
Abstract:
The presence of Epstein-Barr virus in different T-cell malignancies is now widely reported. In an effort to ascertain whether T cells are susceptible to EBV infection, we and others have detected the EBV receptor, CD21 on a population of immature thymocytes. We showed that EBV is a cofactor in stimulating proliferation of thymocytes. This proliferation may be a relevant factor in EBV-associated T-cell malignancies as well as EBV causation of acute infectious mononucleosis (AIM). We have further identified a subset of thymocytes that is infectable by EBV in which the genome remains linear in the first weeks after infection. We documented the transcription of the switch protein ZEBRA, an alternatively spliced form, RAZ, and EBNA-1 transcription from the Fp promoter. We hypothesise that EBV may be a cofactor in oncogenesis in T cells through several different pathways.
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