Epstein-Barr virus-infected marmoset cells transfected with c-myc do not form lymphomas in mice with severe combined immunodeficiency.
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been associated with several malignant processes in man, most notably Burkitt lymphoma in previously healthy individuals and lesions resembling large cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas in organ transplant recipients. Mice with the severe combined immunodeficiency phenotype (SCID mice) are exquisitely susceptible to the development of EBV-associated lymphoproliferative lesions following the intraperitoneal (ip) inoculation of EBV-infected human lymphocytes. Recently, we reported that EBV-infected marmoset lymphocytes do not form lymphomas in SCID mice following ip injection, while human lymphocytes infected with the same EBV strains do. On the assumption that the EBV-infected marmoset cells were lacking a factor necessary for tumor formation, we transfected a plasmid containing c-myc into EBV-infected marmoset cells (B95-8, FF41, and W91 cells). Despite expression of the c-myc protein as determined by immunoblot and flow cytometry when probed with a monoclonal antibody, no increase over baseline lesion development was seen in SCID mice inoculated with 5 x 10(6) c-myc-expressing marmoset lymphoblastoid cells. Thus, cells that express c-myc and harbor EBV are not sufficient to form lymphomas in certain immunocompromised hosts.
Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
B
B
Salimi
M R
MR
O'Gorman
D
D
Variakojis
M
M
Bendet
M
M
Newman
E
E
Poupko
B Z
BZ
Katz
D000818:Animals; D002144:Callithrix; D002455:Cell Division; D002460:Cell Line; D002470:Cell Survival; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D016259:Genes, myc; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000502:physiology*; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000502:physiology; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000821:virology*; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D016513:Mice, SCID; D016271:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014162:Transfection
D016271:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc