Ls. Lin et al., EXPRESSION OF THE EPSTEIN-BARR-VIRUS DNA-POLYMERASE IN ESCHERICHIA-COLI FOR USE AS ANTIGEN FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF NASOPHARYNGEAL CARCINOMA, Journal of medical virology, 45(1), 1995, pp. 99-105
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) encoded DNA polymerase (POL) was cloned and o
ver-expressed in Escherichia coli. Western blot analysis confirmed the
presence of antibody to this POL protein in sera from nasopharyngeal
carcinoma (NPC) patients. By Western blot analysis, moderate to high c
oncentration of IgG POL-specific antibodies were present in 43 of 48 N
PC sera and only 4 of 48 healthy, seropositive controls. The POL-speci
fic IgG antibodies appear as early as stage I of NPC, suggesting that
the recombinant POL protein can be a useful diagnostic marker for earl
y diagnosis of the disease. It was also found that human sera containi
ng high titer of cytomegalovirus (CMV) antibodies or herpes simplex vi
rus type 1 (HSV-1) antibodies did not cross-react with the recombinant
EBV POL, despite the homology shared by DNA polymerase proteins of th
ese viruses. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.