HIGH PREVALENCE OF A 30-BASE PAIR DELETION AND SINGLE-BASE MUTATIONS WITHIN THE CARBOXY-TERMINAL END OF THE LMP-1 ONCOGENE OF EPSTEIN-BARR-VIRUS IN THE JAPANESE POPULATION
O. Itakura et al., HIGH PREVALENCE OF A 30-BASE PAIR DELETION AND SINGLE-BASE MUTATIONS WITHIN THE CARBOXY-TERMINAL END OF THE LMP-1 ONCOGENE OF EPSTEIN-BARR-VIRUS IN THE JAPANESE POPULATION, Oncogene, 13(7), 1996, pp. 1549-1553
The presence of 30-base pair (bp) deletion mutants within the carboxy
terminal end of the LMP-1 oncogene (BNLF-1 gene) of Epstein-Barr virus
(EBV) has been reported in EBV-associated neoplasms. We analysed the
30-bp deletion and the single-base mutations of the LMP-1 gene in 13 s
pontaneously established lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) from periphe
ral blood mononuclear cells of three healthy children, four patients w
ith EBV-unrelated acute febrile illnesses, three patients with infecti
ous mononucleosis (IM), and three patients with chronic active EBV inf
ection (CEBV), and six frozen samples from four patients with CEBV and
two patients with EBV-associated hemophagocytic syndrome (EBV-AHS). F
or molecular analysis of the carboxy terminal end of the LMP-1 gene, P
CR was performed using primers spanning the carboxy terminal region of
the LMP-1 gene. Direct sequence analysis of the PCR products revealed
identical 30-bp deletion in 14 of 19 samples (74%). Six point mutatio
ns at nucleotide positions 168357, 168355, 168320, 168308, 168295, and
168225 were frequently identified regardless of disease status. Our f
indings revealed the carboxy terminal end of the LMP-1 gene was mutati
onal hot spots. The 30-bp deletion mutant is widely spread in the Japa
nese population and is not implicated in EBV-associated lymphoprolifer
ative diseases.