Viral Immunobiology, Institute of Experimental Immunology, University of Zürich, Switzerland.
Curr Opin Virol. 2017 Aug;25:113-118. doi: 10.1016/j.coviro.2017.07.026. Epub 2017 Aug 22.
It is essential for the human immune system to control Epstein Barr virus (EBV), because this common human γ-herpesvirus efficiently spreads through the human population with more than 90% being persistently infected after 20 years of age even in developed countries. Moreover, it threatens each host with its potent growth transforming properties, readily immortalizing human B cells into persistently growing lymphoma cell lines. Since this virus only infects humans, mice with reconstituted human immune system components provide an informative in vivo model to study EBV infection, the associated tumor formation and immune control thereof. They recapitulate the different infection programs in human B cells, allow modeling EBV driven lymphoma formation and interrogation of the key cytotoxic lymphocyte responses that are also required to control this pathogen in humans. The respective lessons that were taught by these investigations will be discussed in this review as well as the challenges in the future to address the whole portfolio of EBV associated diseases and how they could be prevented by EBV specific immunotherapies.
对于人类免疫系统来说，控制 Epstein Barr 病毒（EBV）至关重要，因为这种常见的人类 γ-疱疹病毒在人群中传播效率很高，即使在发达国家，超过 90%的人在 20 岁后仍会持续感染。此外，它还具有强大的生长转化特性，可轻易将人类 B 细胞转化为持续生长的淋巴瘤细胞系，从而威胁到每个宿主。由于这种病毒仅感染人类，因此具有重建人类免疫系统成分的小鼠为研究 EBV 感染、相关肿瘤形成及其免疫控制提供了一个有意义的体内模型。它们再现了人类 B 细胞中的不同感染程序，允许模拟 EBV 驱动的淋巴瘤形成，并研究控制这种病原体在人类中所需的关键细胞毒性淋巴细胞反应。本文将讨论这些研究的相关经验教训，以及未来解决 EBV 相关疾病的全部问题以及如何通过 EBV 特异性免疫疗法预防这些疾病的挑战。
