title: Epstein Barr virus entry; kissing and conjugation.
abstract: Epstein Barr virus (EBV) is a highly prevalent human gamma 1 lymphocryptovirus which infects both B lymphocytes and epithelial cells. In the healthy host, infection of these different cell lineages broadly reflects the different phases of the virus lifecycle. Memory B cells are the reservoir for latent EBV, in which viral gene expression is highly restricted to maintain an asymptomatic lifelong infection. In contrast, epithelial cells may be a major site of the virus lytic cycle, where infectious virus is propagated and transmitted via saliva to uninfected hosts. To achieve this dual tropism, EBV has evolved a unique set of glycoproteins in addition to a highly conserved set, which interact with cell lineage-specific receptors and switch cellular tropism during infection.
authors.affiliation: School for Cancer Sciences, The University of Birmingham, Vincent Drive, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. Electronic address: C.ShannonLowe@bham.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shannon-Lowe
authors.affiliation: School for Cancer Sciences, The University of Birmingham, Vincent Drive, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rowe
mesh_terms: D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000821:virology*; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000821:virology*; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D056189:Viral Tropism; D053586:Virus Internalization