Fanidi A, Hancock D C, Littlewood T D
Biochemistry of the Cell Nucleus, Imperial Cancer Research Fund Laboratories, London WC2A 3PX, United Kingdom.
J Virol. 1998 Oct;72(10):8392-5. doi: 10.1128/JVI.72.10.8392-8395.1998.
Constitutive expression of the c-myc proto-oncogene in growth factor-deprived fibroblasts promotes proliferation and induces apoptosis. In these cells, apoptosis can be inhibited by survival factors such as insulin-like growth factor I or the bcl-2 proto-oncogene product. Deregulated c-Myc expression is a common feature in Epstein-Barr virus-positive Burkitt's lymphoma in which the c-myc gene is reciprocally translocated and placed under the control of one of the immunoglobulin loci. BHRF1 is an Epstein-Barr virus protein expressed early in the lytic cycle. BHRF1 is a member of the Bcl-2 family and has been shown to suppress apoptosis and to increase cell survival in different settings. In the present study, we report that BHRF1 inhibits c-Myc-induced apoptosis which occurs in the absence of survival factors. It does not, however, affect the capacity of c-Myc to promote cell growth. These findings demonstrate that BHRF1 has not only structural but also functional similarities to Bcl-2.
在生长因子缺乏的成纤维细胞中，原癌基因c-myc的组成型表达可促进细胞增殖并诱导细胞凋亡。在这些细胞中，细胞凋亡可被诸如胰岛素样生长因子I或原癌基因bcl-2产物等存活因子所抑制。c-Myc表达失调是爱泼斯坦-巴尔病毒（Epstein-Barr virus，EBV）阳性的伯基特淋巴瘤的一个常见特征，在该肿瘤中，c-myc基因发生相互易位并置于一个免疫球蛋白基因座的控制之下。BHRF1是一种在裂解周期早期表达的EBV蛋白。BHRF1是Bcl-2家族的成员，已被证明在不同情况下可抑制细胞凋亡并提高细胞存活率。在本研究中，我们报道BHRF1可抑制在缺乏存活因子时发生的c-Myc诱导的细胞凋亡。然而，它并不影响c-Myc促进细胞生长的能力。这些发现表明，BHRF1不仅在结构上而且在功能上与Bcl-2相似。
