Epstein-Barr virus nuclear protein 2A forms oligomers in vitro and in vivo through a region required for B-cell transformation.

Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen 2 (EBNA-2) has been shown to be indispensable for immortalization of latently infected B lymphocytes, and it has been shown that EBNA-2 exists in a high-molecular-weight complex in these cells. In order to study the components of this protein machinery, we have purified baculovirus-expressed EBNA-2 from insect cells to greater than 95% homogeneity. We have shown by both gel filtration and sucrose gradient analysis that the purified material corresponds to a multimer containing eight EBNA-2 subunits. This multimeric complex is stable in 1.0 M NaCl, suggesting that the self-association is quite strong in vitro. By expressing portions of the EBNA-2 open reading frame to generate fusion proteins in yeast cells, we have used the two-hybrid system to demonstrate that this self-association occurs in vivo and is mediated at least in part by a domain of EBNA-2 encompassing amino acids 122 to 344. Mutational analysis of the self-association function suggests that two subdomains that flank amino acid 232 may each play a role in EBNA-2 protein-protein interaction.