title: Expression of the Epstein-Barr virus DNA polymerase in Escherichia coli for use as antigen for the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) encoded DNA polymerase (POL) was cloned and over-expressed in Escherichia coli. Western blot analysis confirmed the presence of antibody to this POL protein in sera from nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients. By Western blot analysis, moderate to high concentration of IgG POL-specific antibodies were present in 43 of 48 NPC sera and only 4 of 48 healthy, seropositive controls. The POL-specific IgG antibodies appear as early as stage I of NPC, suggesting that the recombinant POL protein can be a useful diagnostic marker for early diagnosis of the disease. It was also found that human sera containing high titer of cytomegalovirus (CMV) antibodies or herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) antibodies did not cross-react with the recombinant EBV POL, despite the homology shared by DNA polymerase proteins of these viruses.
authors.affiliation: Development Center for Biotechnology, Veterans General Hospital-Taipei, Republic of China.
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: L H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Ro
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.forename: W L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: T H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.forename: W T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: K Y
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D001483:Base Sequence; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003429:Cross Reactions; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000276:immunology; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D015870:Gene Expression; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000276:immunology; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000201:enzymology; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014764:Viral Proteins
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins; C083202:BALF5 protein, Epstein-barr virus; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase