Epstein-Barr virus and tumor promoters.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) can be maintained in lymphoblastoid cell lines. The infection is usually latent and the lack of a fully permissive cell have made the studies of the lytic functions of the virus difficult. In these cell lines virus production can be induced by addition of phorbol esters, n-butyrate, or nucleotide analogues. These compounds have been used to study EBV in several aspects: the latent and lytic functions of EBV. The possible use of this model system as an in vitro assay for tumor promoters. The mechanism behind the tumor promoter and n-butyrate induced activation of EBV.