Carboxy terminal variants of Epstein-Barr virus-encoded latent membrane protein 1 during long-term human immunodeficiency virus infection: Reliable markers for individual strain identification

To assess the frequency and molecular polymorphism of malignancy-associated latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) variants in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection, 94 B-lymphoblastoid cell lines spontaneously deri ved from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and 30 PBMC samples at s eroconversion and later (mean, 55 months) were analyzed by longitudinal com parative sequence analysis in 8 patients progressing to non-Hodgkin's lymph oma (AIDS-NHL), 7 patients to opportunistic infections, and 2 patients with long-term asymptomatic HIV-1 infection. The sequence polymorphism in the C -terminus of LMP1 was characteristic for strains harbored by individual pat ients, with high fidelity for strain identification. In 14 of the 17 patien ts, two different but characteristic LMP1 variants were identified. At HIV seroconversion in 8 of 15 patients, a 30-bp deletion (LMP1 Delta) was prese nt. Though serial analysis revealed a shift to LMP1 Delta in some individua ls, statistical analysis of the cohort does not support the hypothesis that accumulation of LMP la variants in PBMC accounts for their observed high i ncidence in AIDS-NHL.