Hoebe E K, Hutajulu S H, van Beek J, Stevens S J, Paramita D K, Greijer A E, Middeldorp J M
VU University Medical Center, Department of Pathology, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2011 Feb;18(2):298-304. doi: 10.1128/CVI.00193-10. Epub 2010 Dec 1.
WHO type III nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is highly prevalent in Indonesia and 100% associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). NPC tumor cells express viral proteins, including BARF1, which is secreted and is considered to have oncogenic and immune-modulating properties. Recently, we found conserved mutations in the BARF1 gene in NPC isolates. This study describes the expression and purification of NPC-derived BARF1 and analyzes humoral immune responses against prototype BARF1 (B95-8) and purified native hexameric BARF1 in sera of Indonesian NPC patients (n = 155) compared to healthy EBV-positive (n = 56) and EBV-negative (n = 16) individuals. BARF1 (B95-8) expressed in Escherichia coli and baculovirus, as well as BARF1-derived peptides, did not react with IgG or IgA antibodies in NPC. Purified native hexameric BARF1 protein isolated from culture medium was used in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and revealed relatively weak IgG and IgA responses in human sera, although it had strong antibody responses to other EBV proteins. Higher IgG reactivity was found in NPC patients (P = 0.015) than in regional Indonesian controls or EBV-negative individuals (P < 0.001). IgA responses to native BARF1 were marginal. NPC sera with the highest IgG responses to hexameric BARF1 in ELISA showed detectable reactivity with denatured BARF1 by immunoblotting. In conclusion, BARF1 has low immunogenicity for humoral responses and requires native conformation for antibody binding. The presence of antibodies against native BARF1 in the blood of NPC patients provides evidence that the protein is expressed and secreted as a hexameric protein in NPC patients.
世界卫生组织III型鼻咽癌(NPC)在印度尼西亚高度流行,且100%与爱泼斯坦-巴尔病毒(EBV)相关。NPC肿瘤细胞表达病毒蛋白,包括BARF1,该蛋白可分泌,被认为具有致癌和免疫调节特性。最近,我们在NPC分离株中发现了BARF1基因的保守突变。本研究描述了NPC来源的BARF1的表达和纯化,并分析了印度尼西亚NPC患者(n = 155)血清中针对原型BARF1(B95-8)和纯化的天然六聚体BARF1的体液免疫反应,同时与健康EBV阳性(n = 56)和EBV阴性(n = 16)个体进行了比较。在大肠杆菌和杆状病毒中表达的BARF1(B95-8)以及BARF1衍生肽,在NPC中不与IgG或IgA抗体反应。从培养基中分离得到的纯化天然六聚体BARF1蛋白用于酶联免疫吸附测定(ELISA),结果显示在人血清中IgG和IgA反应相对较弱,尽管它对其他EBV蛋白有较强的抗体反应。在NPC患者中发现的IgG反应性高于印度尼西亚地区对照或EBV阴性个体(P = 0.015;P < 0.001)。对天然BARF1的IgA反应很微弱。在ELISA中对六聚体BARF1具有最高IgG反应的NPC血清,通过免疫印迹显示与变性BARF1有可检测的反应性。总之,BARF1对体液反应的免疫原性较低,且抗体结合需要天然构象。NPC患者血液中存在针对天然BARF1的抗体,这证明该蛋白在NPC患者中以六聚体蛋白的形式表达和分泌。