S. Rothenberger et al., NATURAL 30 BASE-PAIR AND 69 BASE-PAIR DELETION VARIANTS OF THE LMP1 ONCOGENE DO STIMULATE NF-KAPPA-B-MEDIATED TRANSCRIPTION, Oncogene, 14(17), 1997, pp. 2123-2126
An increasing number of reports shows a link between the Epstein-Barr
virus (EBV) and lymphoid neoplasia. The latent membrane protein 1 (LMP
1) is likely to play a determinant role in this process since this EBV
encoded protein has oncogenic properties and is usually expressed in
EBV-associated lymphoproliferative diseases (LPD), except Burkitt's ly
mphoma, We previously identified in LPD patients mutational hot spots
and a 30 bp or 69 bp deletion in the LMP1 gene region coding for the C
-terminal domain, These deletions are located in an area shown to be i
mportant for the activation of the transcription factor NF-kappa B. Th
ese findings lead us to test whether these natural deletion variants m
ay have a functional effect, We measured the stimulation of their acti
vity using a luciferase reporter plasmid containing NF-kappa B respons
ive elements, We tested the NF-kappa B inducing activity of four natur
ally occurring LMP1 deletion variants, Our results show that these del
etion variants activate NF-kappa B to the same level as the wildtype f
orm, indicating that the crucial residues for NF-kappa B activation ar
e conserved among the variants isolated and lie within the last 32 ami
no acids of the C-terminal domain of the LMP1 oncogene.