title: Nucleosomal structure of Epstein-Barr virus DNA in transformed cell lines.
abstract: Micrococcal nuclease digestion was used to analyze Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA structure in nuclei of transformed cells. Digests of virus-producing (P3HR-1), non-virus-producing (Raji), and superinfected Rajii cell nuclei were fractionated by electrophoresis on agarose gels, transferred to nitrocellulose, and hybridized to 32P-labeled EBV DNA. The viral DNA of Raji nuclei produced a series of bands on electrophoresis whose lengths were integral multiples of a unit size, which was the same as the repeat length of host DNA. Viral DNA in nuclei of P3HR-1 and superinfected Raji cells produced faintly visible bands superimposed on a smear of viral DNA which dominated the hybridization pattern. No differences were detected in the patterns when total DNA digests from Raji, P3HR-1, and an EBV DNA-negative cell line (U-698M) were analyzed by ethidium bromide staining or by hybridization with the use of 32P-labeled lymphoblastoid cell DNA as probe. We conclude that the EBV episomal DNA of Raji cells is folded into nucleosomes, whereas most of the viral DNA of P3HR-1 and superinfected Raji cells is not. This pattern of DNA organization differs signficantly from that in papova group viruses.
mesh_terms: D002051:Burkitt Lymphoma; D002460:Cell Line; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000032:analysis; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000032:analysis; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000032:analysis* / Q000254:growth & development; D006801:Humans; D008836:Micrococcal Nuclease / Q000378:metabolism; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D008836:Micrococcal Nuclease