INTERACTION OF EPSTEIN-BARR VIRUS WITH LEUKEMIC B-CELLS INVITRO .1. ABORTIVE INFECTION AND RARE CELL-LINE ESTABLISHMENT FROM CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIC-CELLS

  • 1 January 1982
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 50  (2) , 347-354
Abstract
Leukemia B cell populations, each with an individual pattern of monoclonal surface Ig expression, were obtained from 23 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and, following exposure to a potent dose of Epstein-Barr (EB) virus in vitro, were monitored for expression of the virus associated nuclear antigen EBNA, for activation of Ig synthesis and for virus-induced transformation to an established cell line. Although possessing the EB virus receptor, CLL cells were generally refractory (vis-a-vis normal adult B cells) to the full effects of the viral infection. All the leukemic populations tested developed a small proportion of EBNA positive cells within a few days post-infection, but in most instances this disappeared with no subsequent evidence of viral activity. In certain cases, EBNA staining became more intense, involving a larger fraction of the population and persisting for some weeks; again, this was not accompanied by virus-induced Ig synthesis or transformation. The leukemic cells from a single patient, tested on 3 separate occasions, regularly responded to EB virus infection with the rapid establishment of an EBNA positive B cell line in which the restricted pattern of surface and cytoplasmic Ig expression (.gamma..lambda.) exactly matched that present on the original leukemic cells.