Immunoprecipitation of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-specific proteins by prelymphomatous and normal baboon sera containing antibodies reactive with EBV early antigen.

Carbon (14C)-amino acid mixture-labelled antigen extracted from 12-0-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) and sodium n-butyrate-induced P3HR-1 cells was immunoprecipitated with sera from normal, prelymphomatous and lymphomatous baboons, as well as with sera from human controls. Most of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-specific proteins that were precipitated by human sera were also precipitated by baboon sera. A major difference between prelymphomatous and normal control baboon sera was that 5 out of 6 the former and none of the latter immuno-precipitated an EBV-early antigen-specific protein with Mr 31,000.