DOMINANCE OF A SINGLE EPSTEIN-BARR-VIRUS STRAIN IN SCID-MOUSE TUMORS INDUCED BY INJECTION OF PERIPHERAL-BLOOD MONONUCLEAR-CELLS FROM HEALTHY-HUMAN DONORS

Severe Combined Immune Deficiency mouse tumors, induced by inoculating peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 11 healthy human donors (hu-P BMC-SCID tumors), were used to analyse Epstein- Barr virus (EBV) type and strain variations. PCR analysis of EBNA 2- and EBNA 3C-specific se quences showed that EBV type A was present in SCID-mouse tumors induce d by PBMC from all donors but one, while, using amplimers for a highly polymorphic region within the latent membrane protein (LMP) coding se quence, 5 different strains could be detected among the samples examin ed. The same LMP fragment was present in different tumors arising in t he same animal, as well as in different mice injected with PBMC from a ny donor. Compared to B95.8 and AG876 prototype viruses, sequence anal ysis of LMP variants disclosed a higher homology to the latter, with 3 3 bp additional repetitions and a few point mutations in specific site s. This study confirms and extends previous data on the presence of a single EBV type and strain in the peripheral blood of most normal heal thy subjects using the SCID-mouse system.