title: Is EBV persistence in vivo a model for B cell homeostasis?
abstract: We have measured the absolute numbers of EBV-infected B cells in the peripheral blood of healthy persistently infected individuals. Single measurements on a panel of 15 healthy individuals demonstrate that the frequency varies over a wide range from 1-50 per 10(6) B cells. Repeat measurements over 1-3.5 years on several individuals whose frequencies varied over a 10-fold range showed that the variation does not represent the fluctuation in the frequency that can occur within an individual; rather, the frequencies are specific to the individual. The frequency within an individual measured over time is stable and contributes less than 10% to the variance seen in the whole population. These measurements suggest that the level of EBV-infected B cells is tightly regulated and we propose that the same homeostatic mechanisms that regulate the levels of normal B cells also regulate B cells latently infected with EBV.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02111, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Miyashita
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Babcock
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Thorley-Lawson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000821:virology*; D002051:Burkitt Lymphoma / Q000821:virology; D002460:Cell Line; D005260:Female; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014766:Viremia / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D017735:Virus Latency