Antibody and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity responses against the BamHI A rightward open-reading frame-1 protein of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in EBV-associated disorders.

Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) is an important antiviral effector mechanism. ADCC to the protein encoded by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) BamHI A rightward open-reading frame-1 (BARF1) was studied by transducing Raji-tk- cells with the BARF1 gene using a retroviral expression vector. The transduced Raji cells expressed BARF1 on the cell surface, as determined by flow cytometry. Sera from chronic and acute infectious mononucleosis and nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients were found to contain antibodies that react with the BARF1 protein. When BARF1-expressing Raji cells were used as targets for ADCC, sera from several nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients demonstrated significant ADCC reactivity, whereas sera from healthy EBV-seronegative and -seropositive persons lacked such reactivity. BARF1-specific ADCC activity could be competitively inhibited with recombinant BARF1 protein. The level of anti-BARF1 antibody activity in sera of patients with EBV-associated diseases suggests that the BARF1 protein may serve as a target on EBV-infected cells for ADCC.