title: Current Trends and Alternative Scenarios in EBV Research.
abstract: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection is associated with several distinct hematological and epithelial malignancies, e.g., Burkitt lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, gastric carcinoma, and others. The association with several malignant tumors of local and worldwide distribution makes EBV one of the most important tumor viruses. Furthermore, because EBV can cause posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease, transplant medicine has to deal with EBV as a major pathogenic virus second only to cytomegalovirus. In this review, we summarize briefly the natural history of EBV infection and outline some of the recent advances in the pathogenesis of the major EBV-associated neoplasms. We present alternative scenarios and discuss them in the light of most recent experimental data. Emerging research areas including EBV-induced patho-epigenetic alterations in host cells and the putative role of exosome-mediated information transfer in disease development are also within the scope of this review. This book contains an in-depth description of a series of modern methodologies used in EBV research. In this introductory chapter, we thoroughly refer to the applications of these methods and demonstrate how they contributed to the understanding of EBV-host cell interactions. The data gathered using recent technological advancements in molecular biology and immunology as well as the application of sophisticated in vitro and in vivo experimental models certainly provided deep and novel insights into the pathogenetic mechanisms of EBV infection and EBV-associated tumorigenesis. Furthermore, the development of adoptive T cell immunotherapy has provided a novel approach to the therapy of viral disease in transplant medicine and hematology.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Oral Biology and Experimental Dental Research, University of Szeged, Tisza Lajos krt. 64, H-6720, Szeged, Hungary. minimicrobi@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Janos
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Minarovits
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University of Regensburg, D-93053, Regensburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans Helmut
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Niller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology; D002051:Burkitt Lymphoma / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D002472:Cell Transformation, Viral; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology*; D019309:Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear Antigens / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D055354:Exosomes; D042822:Genomic Instability; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D016219:Immunotherapy, Adoptive; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017735:Virus Latency; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: C402641:EBNA-2 protein, Human herpesvirus 4; C037662:EBV-associated membrane antigen, Epstein-Barr virus; D019309:Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear Antigens; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins
keywords: Adoptive T cell immunotherapy; Burkitt lymphoma; EBV latency; Exosome; Hodgkin lymphoma; In vivo experimental models; Latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1); Lytic viral replication; Mass spectrometry; Patho-epigenetics; RNA-seq; Telomere; Tumorigenesis