Functional mapping of the Epstein-Barr virus genome: identification of sites coding for the restricted early antigen, the diffuse early antigen, and the nuclear antigen.

Attempts were made to functionally map antigenic expression of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) to specific regions on the EBV genome, using the B95-8 strain. Experiments were performed to map the expression of early antigen (EA), both restricted and diffuse (R and D, respectively), and the EBV nuclear antigen (EBNA), using intact B95-8 DNA, cloned BamHI fragments or Charon 4A fragments. DNA preparations were microinjected into two EBV genome-negative epithelial tumor cell lines. Expression of EBV antigens was monitored using precharacterized human sera, as well as monoclonal antibodies to EA-R and EA-D. The data suggest that EA-R maps to the BamHI H fragment, and EA-D maps to the Charon 4A fragment 7. A previous report that BamHI K is associated with the expression of a nuclear neoantigen tentatively identified as EBNA (W.P. Summers, E.A. Grogan, D. Shedd, M. Robert, C.R. Liu, and G. Miller, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 79, 5688-5692, 1982) was also confirmed.