OBJECTIVETo investigate the genomic variation of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and its significance in nasopharyngeal carcinogenesis.

METHODSForty nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) biopsy tissues were used for detection of EBV BamHI f variant and LMP1 XhoI-loss by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), nested PCR, and RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism). Forty-eight samples of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) taken from apparently healthy adult individuals were used for detection of LMP1 XhoI-loss. Three samples of amplified LMP1 exon 1 DNA from B95-8 cell line and 2 NPC tissues (one having XhoI-loss and the other having Wt-XhoI/XhoI-loss) were sequenced.

RESULTSThirty out of the 40 NPC cases (30/40, 75%) harbored EBV BamHI f variant and the remaining 10 (10/40, 25%) harbored BamHI F prototype. Thirty out of the 39 NPCs (30/39, 76.9%) showed single EBV LMP1 XhoI-loss, 7 (7/39, 18.0%) showed single LMP1 Wt-XhoI (presence of a XhoI site in exon 1 of LMP1 gene, as in B95-8 cell line), and 2 (2/39, 5.1%) showed both LMP1 Wt-XhoI and XhoI-loss. Thirty-eight of the 39 NPCs (97.4%) showed EBV LMP1 XhoI-loss or/and BamHI F variant. In the NPC tissue (1 case only) showing the prototype of Wt-XhoI/BamHI "f", there were several base substitutions, including 5 missense mutations and 2 silent mutations present in LMP1 exon 3, on DNA sequencing. On the other hand, 10 out of the 48 samples of PBMC taken from apparently healthy individuals could be amplified successfully by nested PCR for detection of LMP1 XhoI site. All of these 10 samples carried the prototype of EBV LMP1 Wt-XhoI.

CONCLUSIONSThe majority of EBV present in neoplastic cells of NPC is of BamHI "f" variant and/or possesses LMP1 XhoI-loss, as compared with that in healthy individuals. This genomic variation of EBV may bear some roles in the development and progression of NPC.