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Abstract: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) BZLF1 gene can trigger EBV from latent infection to lytic replicative phase. The functions of BZLF1 are well known, while little is known about its gene polymorphism. In order to elucidate the sequence variations of BZLF1 and its association with malignancies, we analyzed BZLF1 gene in 24 EBV-associated gastric carcinomas, 41 nasopharyngeal carcinomas and 24 throat washing samples from healthy donors in Northern China using PCR-direct sequencing method. Three types and 8 subtypes of BZLF1 were identified. A dominant type BZLF1-A was found in 67 of 89 (75.3%) isolates. Type BZLF1-B was characterized by a common Ala deletion at residue 127, which was detected in 21 of 89 isolates (23.6%). Type BZLF1-C contained only one isolate (GC103), which had the same sequence with the prototype B95-8. Among 3 functional domains of BZLF1 protein, the transactivation domain had most mutations, followed by the bZIP domains (the DNA binding domain and dimerization domain). No prevalence of any subtypes or mutations in the functional domains among three specimen groups was found (P > 0.05). Our study indicates that BZLF1 subtypes and amino acid changes in functional domains are not preferentially associated with EBV-associated gastric carcinomas or nasopharyngeal carcinomas in Northern China. BZLF1 gene variations are geographically restricted rather than tumor-specific polymorphisms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Gene polymorphism rs1048369 of glypican-4 (GPC4) gene has been reported to be significantly different between Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated gastric carcinoma (GC) and EBV-negative GC. However, little is known about the polymorphism in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), which is a malignant tumor with a high prevalence of EBV. Objective: The distribution of GPC4 polymorphism rs1048369 was investigated in NPC patients, especially in those with EBV infection. The association between the polymorphism of GPC4 and the susceptibility to EBV-positive and EBV-negative NPC was also explored. Patients and Methods: The GPC4 gene polymorphism rs1048369 was detected in 143 cases of EBV-positive NPC and in 19 cases of EBV-negative NPC using polymerase chain reaction. One hundred and seven peripheral blood samples from healthy individuals were also measured as a control group. Results: The difference in genotype CC between EBV-positive NPC patients and healthy individuals was significant (χ2 = 15.273, p < 0.01). No significant difference was observed between EBV-positive and EBV-negative NPC cases. Between EBV-negative NPC cases and healthy individuals, there was no significant difference in GPC4 gene polymorphism in both genotypic and allelic frequencies. Conclusions: The GPC4 gene polymorphism is associated with susceptibility to EBV-positive NPC. The CC genotype of GPC4 may represent a risk factor for NPC in Northern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is associated with a subset of gastric carcinoma which was defined as EBV associated gastric carcinoma (EBVaGC). The proportion of EBVaGC in gastric remnant carcinoma (GRC) which occurs in the intact stomach five or more years after gastric surgery for benign disease is significantly higher than that in conventional gastric carcinoma (CGC). The infection of EBV in recurrent gastric carcinoma (RGC) with local anastomotic recurrence is poorly understood. Methods: 53 cases of GRC and 58 cases of RGC were analyzed for the presence of EBV, and the variants of EBV Encoded RNAs (EBER), EBV Nuclear Antigen 1 (EBNA1) and Latent Membrane Protein 1 (LMP1) gene in both groups were investigated. Results: Thirteen (24.5%) out of 53 GRC cases and 3 (5.2%) out of 58 RGC cases were identified as EBVaGCs. In 17 paired RGC cases, only one case was classified as EBVaGC in both times specimen. Another one case was identified as EBVaGC in the primary gastroectomy specimen while the recurrent gastric cancer was not. The third EBVaGC in RGC was identified while the primary gastric cancer was not EBVaGC. In GRC and RGC cases, type 1, type F, EB-6m, V-val subtype, del-LMP1 were predominant type or variants, accounting for 10(76.9%) and 2(66.7%), 13(100%) and 3(100%), 13(100%) and 3(100%), 9(69.2%) and 3(100%), 12(92.3%) and 3(100%), respectively. However, Type C was the predominant type in GRC accounting for 9(69.2%) cases while type D was the predominant one accounting for 2(66.7%) cases in RGC. Conclusions: The prevalence of EBVaGc in GRC and RGC was significantly different. The distributions of these variants were similar to each other in the two groups which indicated that there were no more aggressive EBV variants in EBVaGC in GRC compared with that in RGC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To characterize the specific Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) polymorphisms from nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients and healthy donors in Northern China, and to explore the relationship between the EBV genotypes and NPC. Methods: The genotypes of EBV strains were analyzed by the polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism. Results: The predominant EBV type was A, C or F in both NPC and healthy individuals. The distributions of the EBV subtypes between NPC and healthy donors were not significantly different (p > 0.05). The frequency of type f strains in NPC was significantly lower in Northern China than in Southern China. Conclusions: No evidence of special EBV genotypes associated with NPC was found, suggesting that EBV strains derived from the NPC patients may reflect geographic distribution rather than being NPC restricted. Copyright © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]