Sixbey J W, Vesterinen E H, Nedrud J G, Raab-Traub N, Walton L A, Pagano J S
Nature. 1983;306(5942):480-3. doi: 10.1038/306480a0.
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a member of the herpes group of viruses and the aetiological agent of infectious mononucleosis, is usually thought of as a lymphotrophic virus with the ability to transform B lymphocytes. So the association of EBV with nasopharyngeal carcinoma is puzzling, especially given the lack of success of attempts to infect epithelial cells with EBV in culture and the apparent lack of EBV receptors on epithelial cells. Circumvention of the apparent requirement for membrane receptors by techniques of transfection, microinjection and receptor transplantation has clearly demonstrated that there is no inherent barrier to EBV replication in nonlymphoid cells, including epithelial cell types. Our ability routinely to detect EBV DNA by in situ hybridization in epithelial cells of the oropharynx from persons with acute infectious mononucleosis suggests that, in vivo, EBV regularly gains access to and replicates lytically in epithelial cells. We report here in vitro evidence for direct infection by EBV and replication of the virus in cultured normal human epithelial cells.
爱泼斯坦-巴尔病毒（EBV）是疱疹病毒组的成员，也是传染性单核细胞增多症的病原体，通常被认为是一种具有转化B淋巴细胞能力的嗜淋巴细胞病毒。因此，EBV与鼻咽癌的关联令人费解，特别是考虑到在培养中用EBV感染上皮细胞的尝试未获成功，以及上皮细胞表面明显缺乏EBV受体。通过转染、显微注射和受体移植技术绕过对膜受体的明显需求，已清楚地表明，在包括上皮细胞类型在内的非淋巴细胞中，EBV复制不存在内在障碍。我们通过原位杂交技术能够常规检测急性传染性单核细胞增多症患者口咽上皮细胞中的EBV DNA，这表明在体内，EBV经常进入上皮细胞并进行裂解性复制。我们在此报告体外实验证据，证明EBV可直接感染培养的正常人类上皮细胞并在其中复制。
