The Epstein‐Barr virus determined nuclear antigen is composed of at least three different anitgens

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Abstract
The EBV‐determined nuclear antigen, EBNA, is the only known viral product to be regularly detected in all EBV‐transformed cells. The anticomplement immunofluorescence (ACIF) staining detects an EBV‐specific nuclear reaction that has recently been shown to be due to at least 2 different proteins, EBNA‐1 and EBNA‐2, encoded by different parts of the viral genome. We now report the existence of a third antigen of the EBNA complex, designated as EBNA‐3. Serum from a patient with chronic infectious mononucleosis contained no detectable antibodies to EBNA‐1 and had only a low EBNA‐2 antibody level. Nevertheless, it gave an EBV‐specific nuclear reaction of normal intensity and stained EBNA‐2‐positive and EBNA‐2‐negative EBV‐carrying lines equally well. Immunoblotting with the same serum identified a new EBV‐specific nuclear protein of 143‐157 kDa.