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Journal of Virology, November 2000, p. 10223-10228, Vol. 74, No. 21
0022-538X/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Epstein-Barr Virus Small RNAs Potentiate Tumorigenicity of Burkitt Lymphoma Cells Independently of an Effect on Apoptosis

Ingrid K. Ruf,1 Paul W. Rhyne,1 Chunying Yang,2 John L. Cleveland,2,3 and Jeffery T. Sample1,4,*

Program in Viral Oncogenesis and Tumor Immunology, Department of Virology and Molecular Biology,1 and Department of Biochemistry,2 St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee 38105, and Department of Biochemistry3 and Department of Pathology,4 University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, Memphis, Tennessee 38163

Received 7 February 2000/Accepted 14 August 2000

The tumorigenic potential of the Burkitt lymphoma (BL) cell line Akata is dependent on the restricted latency program of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) that is characteristically maintained in BL tumors. Within these cells, EBV-mediated inhibition of apoptosis correlates with an up-regulation of BCL-2 levels in concert with a down-regulation in c-MYC expression that occurs under growth-limiting conditions. Here we addressed whether EBV's effects on apoptosis and tumorigenicity are mediated by the EBV small RNAs EBER-1 and EBER-2. Stable expression of the EBERs in EBV-negative Akata BL cells, at levels comparable to those in EBV-positive cells, significantly enhanced the tumorigenic potential of EBV-negative BL cells in SCID mice, but did not fully restore tumorigenicity relative to EBV-positive Akata cells. Furthermore, wild-type or greater levels of EBER expression in EBV-negative Akata cells did not promote BL cell survival. These data therefore suggest that EBV can contribute to BL through at least two avenues: an EBER-dependent mechanism that enhances tumorigenic potential independent of a direct effect on apoptosis, and a second mechanism, mediated by an as-yet-unidentified EBV gene(s), that offsets the proapoptotic consequences of deregulated c-MYC in BL.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Virology and Molecular Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 332 N. Lauderdale, Memphis, TN 38105. Phone: (901) 495-3467. Fax: (901) 523-2622. E-mail: jeff.sample{at}stjude.org.

Journal of Virology, November 2000, p. 10223-10228, Vol. 74, No. 21
0022-538X/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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