title: EBNA-2 -deleted Epstein-Barr virus from P3HR-1 can infect rabbits with lower efficiency than prototype Epstein-Barr virus from B95-8.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To clarify characteristics on rabbit in vivo infection with type 2 EBV nuclear antigen (EBNA-2)-deleted Epstein-Barr virus (P3HR-1-EBV) and compare infectious efficacy of P3HR-1-EBV with previously reported prototype type 1 EBV from B95-8.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twelve Japanese White rabbits were inoculated with P3HR-1-EBV via intranasal or intravenous routes and autopsied on day 70-84.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In only 2 of 12 P3HR-1-EBV-inoculated rabbits, EBV-DNA was detected in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). BamHI M rightward reading frame (BMRF)-1, EBNA-1 and BamHI Z leftward reading frame (BZLF)-1-mRNA were intermittently expressed in PBMCs. In 1 infected rabbit with continuous detection of EBV-DNA in PBMCs, many EBER-1-positive lymphocytes were observed in germinal centers and/or marginal zones in some follicles of the appendix, and for the first time a lymphocyte with EBER-1 expression infiltrating in the squamous cell layer of the tonsils was found. The other rabbit with a transient detection of EBV-DNA in PBMCs had no EBER-1-positive lymphocytes in the tissues examined. Few EBER-1-positive lymphocytes were detected in some rabbits without detection of EBV-DNA in PBMCs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  P3HR-1-EBV showed less efficient infection in rabbits than EBV from the B95-8 cell line. However, a P3HR-1-EBV-inoculated animal model is meaningful because this is the first study of EBNA-2 function on in vivo EBV infection and it demonstrated the in vivo infectivity with lytic-type infection by EBNA-2-deleted EBV.
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Tottori, Japan. h.sano@med.tottori-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sano
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nagata
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Kyousuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kanai
authors.forename: Kiyoshige
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okuno
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuwamoto
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Higaki-Mori
authors.forename: Hirotsugu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sugihara
authors.forename: Masako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kanzaki
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hayashi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D019309:Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D017353:Gene Deletion; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000821:virology; D011817:Rabbits; D013997:Time Factors; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; C402641:EBNA-2 protein, Human herpesvirus 4; D019309:Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear Antigens; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D014764:Viral Proteins