Three restricted forms of Epstein-Barr virus latency counteracting apoptosis in c-myc-expressing Burkitt lymphoma cells.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a human herpesvirus, transforms B cell growth in vitro through expressing six virus-coded Epstein-Barr nuclear antigens (EBNAs) and two latent membrane proteins (LMPs). In many EBV-associated tumors, however, viral antigen expression is more restricted, and the aetiological role of the virus is unclear. For example, endemic Burkitt lymphoma (BL) classically presents as a monoclonal, c-myc-translocation-positive tumor in which every cell carries EBV as an EBNA1-only (Latency I) infection; such homogeneity among EBV-positive cells, and the lack of EBV-negative comparators, hampers attempts to understand EBV's role in BL pathogenesis. Here, we describe an endemic BL that was unusually heterogeneous at the single-cell level and, in early passage culture, yielded a range of cellular clones, all with the same c-myc translocation but differing in EBV status. Rare EBV-negative cells were isolated alongside EBV-positive cells displaying one of three forms of restricted latency: (i) conventional Latency I expressing EBNA1 only from a WT virus genome, (ii) Wp-restricted latency expressing EBNAs 1, 3A, 3B, 3C, and -LP only from an EBNA2-deleted genome, and (iii) a previously undescribed EBNA2(+)/LMP1(-) latency in which all six EBNAs are expressed again in the absence of the LMPs. Interclonal comparisons showed that each form of EBV infection was associated with a specific degree of protection from apoptosis. Our work suggests that EBV acts as an antiapoptotic rather than a growth-promoting agent in BL by selecting among three transcriptional programs, all of which, unlike the full virus growth-transforming program, remain compatible with high c-myc expression.

Epstein-Barr virus infection in vitro can rescue germinal center B cells with inactivated immunoglobulin genes.

Immunoglobulin genotyping of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-positive posttransplantation lymphoproliferative disease has suggested that such lesions often arise from atypical post-germinal center B cells, in some cases carrying functionally inactivated immunoglobulin genes. To investigate whether EBV can rescue cells that are failed products of the somatic hypermutation process occurring in germinal centers (GCs), we isolated GC cells from tonsillar cell suspensions and exposed them to EBV in vitro. Screening more than 100 EBV-transformed cell lines of GC origin identified 6 lines lacking surface immunoglobulin, a phenotype never seen among lines derived from circulating naive or memory B cells. Furthermore, 3 of the 6 surface immunoglobulin-negative GC lines carried inactivating mutations in the immunoglobulin H (IgH) variable gene sequence. The ability of EBV to rescue aberrant products of the germinal center reaction in vitro strengthens the probability that a parallel activity contributes to EBV's lymphomagenic potential in vivo.

Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen 2 (EBNA2) gene deletion is consistently linked with EBNA3A, -3B, and -3C expression in Burkitt's lymphoma cells and with increased resistance to apoptosis.

Most Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-positive Burkitt's lymphomas (BLs) carry a wild-type EBV genome and express EBV nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) selectively from the BamHI Q promoter (latency I). Recently we identified a distinct subset of BLs carrying both wild-type and EBNA2 gene-deleted (transformation-defective) viral genomes. The cells displayed an atypical "BamHI W promoter (Wp)-restricted" form of latency where Wp (rather than Qp) was active and EBNA1, -3A, -3B, -3C, and -LP were expressed in the absence of EBNA2 or latent membrane proteins 1 and 2. Here we present data strongly supporting the view that the EBNA2-deleted genome is transcriptionally active in these cells and the wild-type genome is silent. Single-cell cloning of three parental Wp-restricted BL lines generated clones carrying either both viral genomes or the EBNA2-deleted genome only, never clones with the wild-type genome only. All rescued clones displayed the Wp-restricted form of latency characteristic of the parent line and retained the original parent cell phenotype. Interestingly, Wp-restricted parent lines and derived clones were markedly more resistant to inducers of apoptosis than standard latency I BL lines. Furthermore, in vitro infection of EBV-negative BL lines with an EBNA2 gene-deleted virus generated EBV-positive converts with Wp-restricted latency and a similarly marked apoptosis resistance. We postulate that, in the subset of BLs displaying Wp-restricted latency, infection of a tumor progenitor cell with an EBNA2 gene-deleted virus has provided that cell with a survival advantage through broadening antigen expression to include the EBNA3 proteins.

Inhibition of metalloproteinase cleavage enhances the cytotoxicity of Fas ligand.

The Fas ligand (FasL)/Fas receptor (CD95) pathway is an important mediator of apoptosis in the immune system and can also mediate cancer cell death. Soluble FasL (sFasL), shed from the membrane-bound form of the molecule by a putative metalloproteinase (MP), may function to locally regulate the activity of membrane-bound FasL. Using a replication-defective recombinant adenovirus-expressing FasL (RAdFasL), we identified a variable ability of different carcinoma cells to respond to FasL-induced cytotoxicity and to shed sFasL. Blockade of FasL cleavage with an MP inhibitor significantly enhanced RAdFasL-induced apoptosis suggesting that sFasL may antagonize the effect of membrane-bound FasL. In support of this concept, a recombinant adenovirus expressing a noncleavable form of FasL (RAdD4) was found to be a potent inducer of apoptosis even at very low virus doses. Our results highlight the therapeutic potential of noncleavable FasL as an antitumor agent and emphasize the important role of MP via the production of sFasL in regulating the response of the Fas pathway. Moreover, these findings have general implications for the therapeutic exploitation of TNF family ligands and for the possible impact of MP-based therapies on the normal physiology of Fas/TNF pathways.