Menzies Health Institute Queensland, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD 4222, Australia.
Clinical Oral Health Sciences Division, School of Dentistry, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia.
Viruses. 2022 Apr 13;14(4):801. doi: 10.3390/v14040801.
Though the oral cavity is anatomically proximate to the nasal cavity and acts as a key reservoir of EBV habitation and transmission, it is still unclear whether EBV plays a significant role in oral carcinogenesis. Many studies have detected EBV DNA in tissues and exfoliated cells from OSCC patients. However, very few studies have investigated the expression of functional EBV proteins implicated in its oncogenicity. The most studied are latent membrane protein 1 (LMP-1), a protein associated with the activation of signalling pathways; EBV determined nuclear antigen (EBNA)-1, a protein involved in the regulation of gene expression; and EBV-encoded small non-polyadenylated RNA (EBER)-2. LMP-1 is considered the major oncoprotein, and overexpression of LMP-1 observed in OSCC indicates that this molecule might play a significant role in oral carcinogenesis. Although numerous studies have detected EBV DNA and proteins from OSCC and oral potentially malignant disorders, heterogeneity in methodologies has led to discrepant results, hindering interpretation. Elucidating the exact functions of EBV and its proteins when expressed is vital in establishing the role of viruses in oral oncogenesis. This review summarises the current evidence on the potential role of EBV in oral oncogenesis and discusses the implications as well as recommendations for future research.
尽管口腔在解剖学上与鼻腔相邻，并且是 EBV 栖息和传播的关键部位，但 EBV 是否在口腔癌发生中起重要作用仍不清楚。许多研究已经在 OSCC 患者的组织和脱落细胞中检测到 EBV DNA。然而，很少有研究调查与致癌性相关的功能性 EBV 蛋白的表达。研究最多的是潜伏膜蛋白 1（LMP-1），一种与信号通路激活相关的蛋白；EBV 确定的核抗原（EBNA）-1，一种参与基因表达调控的蛋白；和 EBV 编码的小非多聚腺苷酸化 RNA（EBER）-2。LMP-1 被认为是主要的癌蛋白，在 OSCC 中观察到的 LMP-1 过表达表明该分子可能在口腔癌发生中起重要作用。尽管许多研究已经从 OSCC 和口腔潜在恶性疾病中检测到 EBV DNA 和蛋白质，但方法学的异质性导致了不一致的结果，从而阻碍了解释。阐明 EBV 及其表达蛋白的确切功能对于确定病毒在口腔肿瘤发生中的作用至关重要。本综述总结了 EBV 在口腔癌发生中的潜在作用的现有证据，并讨论了其意义以及对未来研究的建议。
