Characterization of EBV-positive lymphoblastoid cell lines obtained from HIV seropositive patients with or without lymphomas
Roncella, S.; Di Celle, P.F.; Cutrona, G.; Carbone, A.; Sessarego, M.; Dodi, F.; Foa, R.; Rowe, M.; Ferrarini, M.
Leukemia 6(Suppl 3): 12s-14s
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0887-6924 PMID: 1318463 Document Number: 390431
Epstein-Barr-virus- (EBV-) positive lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) spontaneously arising in vitro were obtained from the peripheral blood of six HIV-seropositive patients and from the peripheral blood and the bone marrow of one patient (LAM) with AIDS and lymphoma. The LCLs from HIV-seropositive patients had phenotypic, cytogenetic, and biological characteristics indistinguishable from those of normal LCLs obtained by infecting B cells with EBV in vitro. The LCLs from LAM patient comprised composite cell populations. Cloning analysis and cell fractionation procedures showed that, beside normal EBV-infected cells, these lines contained a malignant subset population characterized by c-myc rearrangement, abnormal karyotype, and a surface phenotype similar to that of Burkitt's lymphoma cells. Analyses of Ig heavy chain and c-myc oncogene loci showed that these malignant cells were the progeny of a single precursor. Nevertheless, these cells had heterogeneous EBV-fused termini, a finding which indicates that EBV infection followed c-myc rearrangement.