Clonal transformation of adult human leukocytes by Epstein-Barr virus.
We have developed a clonal transformation assay for Epstein-Barr virus which uses adult human leukocytes as target cells. The target cells were isolated from Epstein-Barr seronegative donors, and the same donor's cells could be studied repeatedly over long periods of time. When these cells were transformed by Epstein-Barr virus and had proliferated sufficiently to be studied, they had an average cloning efficiency of 3%. Assuming this average cloning efficiency obtains at the onset of transformation, we calculate that transformation by Epstein-Barr virus leads to immortalization maximally of about 1 in 30 of the adult peripheral leukocytes exposed to the virus. Studying the number of colonies transformed as a function of the amount of virus to which the cells are exposed indicates that a single DNA-containing virus particle is sufficient to transform a cell. All of the transformed clones studied harbored viral DNA. This technique will now permit, for the first time, our studying clonal variations in adult peripheral leukocytes transformed by Epstein-Barr virus as a function of input multiplicity of the virus and of the donor's immune status.
D000328:Adult; D002455:Cell Division; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002999:Clone Cells; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000032:analysis / Q000254:growth & development*; D006801:Humans; D009000:Monocytes / Q000032:analysis / Q000382:microbiology*; D014779:Virus Replication
D004279:DNA, Viral