Infection of human epithelial cell lines by Epstein-Barr virus. Interaction between epithelial cell and B lymphocyte.
The pathogenesis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma caused by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been studied experimentally by infecting monolayer cells derived from human normal nasopharynx with the B-lymphotropic EBV. Direct EBV infection of the cell sheets derived from the human nasopharynx resulted in the appearance of EBV-associated nuclear antigen-positive floating cells, suggesting that the monolayer cells have been transformed. Since these cells seemed to be of the B-type lymphocyte, it may be assumed that there must have been B lymphocytes among the cells of the monolayer which have undergone transformation by the virus. EBV infection of fused human epithelial cells (Ad-AH and D98-AH cells) and B-lymphoblastoid cells (BJAB cells) showed that the EBV receptors had been maintained for no longer than 24 h even when heterokaryons and hybrid cells were formed.
D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002460:Cell Line; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D004848:Epithelium / Q000276:immunology; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D009305:Nasopharynx / Q000276:immunology*; D009374:Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology