Observations on the antigenic relationships between Epstein-Barr virus and herpesvirus saimiri.

The antigenic relationships between Epstein-Barr (EB) virus and herpesvirus saimiri (HVS) have been investigated in comparative immunofluorescence, microimmunodiffusion and serum neutralization tests. No similarity was detected between the structural antigens of the two herpesviruses but the results of microimmunodiffusion tests showed that they shared a non-structural, virus-determined antigen. The implications of this finding are discussed in relation to the importance of HVS and its monkey lymphoma as a model system of herpesvirus oncogenesis.