The work being undertaken in this grant is no longer aptly described by the project title, as was made clear in the revised grant application. We are attempting to clarify what Epstein- Barr virus (EBV) does when it lies dormant (latent) in infected human B-cells. In particular, we are identifying proteins and messages made by the virus which may be involved in cell growth control. This is directly relevant to the study of cancer. In fact, EBV is found in two human cancers, Burkitt's lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. More specifically, our work involves analysis of latent viral transcripts by northern blotting and sequence analysis of cDNA clones. We have discovered new mRNA splicing patterns which could lead to the expression of a latent-phase protein hitherto uncharacterized in the literature. We hope eventually to demonstrate a role for this putative protein either cell growth control or in viral growth control.
| Rogers, R P; Woisetschlaeger, M; Speck, S H (1990) Alternative splicing dictates translational start in Epstein-Barr virus transcripts. EMBO J 9:2273-7 |
