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Journal of Virology, May 2008, p. 4400-4412, Vol. 82, No. 9
0022-538X/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.02630-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Distinct Ex Vivo Susceptibility of B-Cell Subsets to Epstein-Barr Virus Infection According to Differentiation Status and Tissue Origin{triangledown}

Marcus Dorner,1 Franziska Zucol,1 Christoph Berger,1 Rahel Byland,1,2 Gregory T. Melroe,1 Michele Bernasconi,1 Roberto F. Speck,2 and David Nadal1*

Experimental Infectious Diseases and Cancer Research, Division of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Children's Hospital of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland,1 Division of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland2

Received 11 December 2007/ Accepted 21 February 2008

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) uses tonsils as the portal of entry to establish persistent infection. EBV is found in various B-cell subsets in tonsils but exclusively in memory B cells in peripheral blood. The in vitro susceptibilities of B-cell subsets to EBV infection have been studied solely qualitatively. In this work, we examined quantitatively the in vitro susceptibilities of various B-cell subsets from different tissue origins to EBV infection. First, we established a centrifugation-based inoculation protocol (spinoculation) that resulted in a significantly increased proportion of infected cells compared to that obtained by conventional inoculation, enabling a detailed susceptibility analysis. Importantly, B-cell infection occurred via the known EBV receptors and infected cells showed EBV mRNA expression patterns similar to those observed after conventional inoculation, validating our approach. Tonsillar naïve and memory B cells were infected ex vivo at similar frequencies. In contrast, memory B cells from blood, which represent B cells from various lymphoid tissues, were infected at lower frequencies than their naïve counterparts. Immunoglobulin A (IgA)-positive or IgG-positive tonsillar memory B cells were significantly more susceptible to EBV infection than IgM-positive counterparts. Memory B cells were transformed with lower efficiency than naïve B cells. This result was paralleled by lower proliferation rates. In summary, these data suggest that EBV exploits the B-cell differentiation status and tissue origin to establish persistent infection.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Division of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Children's Hospital of Zurich, Steinwiesstrasse 75, CH-8032 Zürich, Switzerland. Phone: 41 44 266 7562. Fax: 41 44 266 8072. E-mail: david.nadal{at}kispi.uzh.ch

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 5 March 2008.

Journal of Virology, May 2008, p. 4400-4412, Vol. 82, No. 9
0022-538X/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.02630-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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