title: Epstein-Barr-Virus-Infected CD15 (Lewis X)-Positive Hodgkin-Lymphoma-Like B Cells in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis.
abstract: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), especially those who are treated with methotrexate (MTX), might have an increased risk of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), a malignancy that is associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Here we describe a monoclonal EBV-infected B-lymphoblastoid cell line (LCL) called TKS-1 that was established from cells that spontaneously converted from an MTX-treated RA patient. TKS-1 has properties similar to HL cells and it is distinctly different from control LCLs established from normal individuals. TKS-1 cells express the HL -associated surface markers CD15 and CD30 (Takei et al. 1989). Like Hodgkin Reed-Sternberg (H-RS) cells of EBV-positive HL, TKS-1 cells express EBNA1 mRNA transcribed from the Qp promoter of the virus, whereas control LCLs use the Cp or Wp promoter to transcribe mRNA. TKS-1 cells can proliferate in an anchorage-independent manner and possess a cloning efficiency comparable to that of the Burkitt lymphoma (BL) line Raji. In addition, two EBV-positive LCLs established by cocultivated CD34+ cells isolated from the bone marrow of patients with RA and peripheral blood B lymphocytes from a healthy EBV-seronegative individual also expressed CD15. These results indicate that EBV-infected B-lymphoblastoid cells from patients with RA tend to acquire properties similar to HL cells.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirotake
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inomata
authors.forename: Masami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takei
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Shigeyoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: Hidetaka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shiraiwa
authors.forename: Noboru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kitamura
authors.forename: Shunsei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hirohata
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Masuda
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: Shigemasa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sawada