To analyze the association of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) with gastrointestinal non-Hodgkin's lymphomas arising in immunocompetent patients, 56 consecutive cases of gastrointestinal lymphomas (B-cell: 52-cases, T-cell: 3 cases, T/NK-cell: 1 case) occurring in the stomach (33 cases), intestine (22 cases) and esophagus (1 case) were investigated for the presence of EBV using polymerase chain reaction analysis as a screening method followed by EBER-1 RNA and DNA in situ hybridization (ISH) and immunohistochemistry for the expression of latent membrane protein 1 (LMP-1). Forty-seven cases demonstrated extractable DNA and EBV DNA was detected only in 4 cases. Among the, RNA (EBER-1) and DNA ISH analysis confirmed the presence of the EBV genome in tumor cells in 3 cases (T/NK-cell lymphoma of ileum, gastric high-grade B-cell lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue, gastric diffuse large B-cell lymphoma). Only the T/NK cell lymphoma showed diffuse positivity of tumor cells while 2 gastric B-cell lymphomas demonstrated a scattered positive reaction and no cases expressed LMP-1. Nine cases without extractable DNA by the PCR method showed no nuclear signal by EBER-1 ISH. These findings suggest that most sporadic primary gastrointestinal lymphomas in Korea are not associated with EBV.
Gastrointestinal Neoplasms/virology* ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms/pathology ; Genome, Viral ; Herpesvirus 4, Human/isolation & purification* ; Herpesvirus 4, Human/genetics ; Human ; In Situ Hybridization ; Korea ; Lymphoma/virology* ; Lymphoma/pathology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

BACKGROUNDThe dilemma of pathogens identification in patients with unidentified clinical symptoms such as fever of unknown origin exists, which not only poses a challenge to both the diagnostic and therapeutic process by itself, but also to expert physicians.

METHODSIn this report, we have attempted to increase the awareness of unidentified pathogens by developing a method to investigate hitherto unidentified infectious pathogens based on unbiased high-throughput sequencing.

RESULTSOur observations show that this method supplements current diagnostic technology that predominantly relies on information derived five cases from the intensive care unit. This methodological approach detects viruses and corrects the incidence of false positive detection rates of pathogens in a much shorter period. Through our method is followed by polymerase chain reaction validation, we could identify infection with Epstein-Barr virus, and in another case, we could identify infection with Streptococcus viridians based on the culture, which was false positive.

CONCLUSIONSThis technology is a promising approach to revolutionize rapid diagnosis of infectious pathogens and to guide therapy that might result in the improvement of personalized medicine.

Female ; Herpesvirus 4, Human ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ; methods ; Humans ; Male ; Viridans Streptococci ; genetics ; isolation & purification

Herpesvirus 4, Human ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Infectious Mononucleosis ; drug therapy ; pathology ; virology ; RNA, Viral ; isolation & purification ; Sensitivity and Specificity

OBJECTIVETo obtain a second Epstein-Barr virus membrane protein (LMP2) in insect cells.

METHODSThe full length EBV-LMP2 gene was inserted into baculovirus expression transfer vector pFastBac HT B to obtain the recombinant baculoviruses Bac-LMP2. And generation of recombinant baculoviruses was followed by transfection of the recombinant Bac-LMP2 into insect cells, then the recombinant LMP2 protein was recognized by SDS-PAGE and western blot. The expressed LMP2 protein was purified by one step with Ni-NTA metal chelation chromatography.

RESULTSThe expressed LMP2 protein was confirmed by SDS-PAGE and western blot. The purity of purified LMP2 protein is up to 86% by HPLC analysis.

CONCLUSIONThe EBV-LMP2 was expressed in insect cells, and the purified LMP2 protein was obtained.

Animals ; Baculoviridae ; genetics ; pathogenicity ; Blotting, Western ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Genetic Vectors ; Herpesvirus 4, Human ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; Insecta ; cytology ; Membrane Proteins ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; Recombinant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Viral Matrix Proteins ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo prepare an Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) microarray using known and predicted EBV-coded genes as the cDNA probes to detect the EBV gene expression in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) tissues.

METHODSThe EBV gene probes were amplified by PCR using a pair of primers designed in both sides of the multiple clone site (MCS) of the T/A vector. After purification of the PCR products, 85 EBV genes and 8000 human genes were printed onto the same slide as the detection chip consisting of both EBV and human genes. This genechip was used to detect the differential gene expression in NPC and non-cancerous nasopharynx (NP) tissues.

RESULTSDetection of the human gene expression profile using the prepared genechip resulted in the identification of numerous human genes in the tissue specimens. Some EBV genes were also detected in the tissues using the genechip, but the signals of the genes appeared rather weak without distinctly visible fluorescence, and were not comparable to the strong signal intensities of the human genes.

CONCLUSIONThe EBV microarray, though constructed successfully, can not meet the needs for clinical application due to the limited detection sensitivity and the relative small quantity of EBV gene expression in NPC samples. Further improvements of the research methods are warranted.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; virology ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Genome, Viral ; genetics ; Herpesvirus 4, Human ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; virology ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; methods

OBJECTIVETo provide a feasible and cost-effective next-generation sequencing (NGS) method for accurate identification of viral pathogens in clinical specimens, because enormous limitations impede the clinical use of common NGS, such as high cost, complicated procedures, tremendous data analysis, and high background noise in clinical samples.

METHODSViruses from cell culture materials or clinical specimens were identified following an improved NGS procedure: reduction of background noise by sample preprocessing, viral enrichment by barcoded oligonucleotide (random hexamer or non-ribosomal hexanucleotide) primer-based amplification, fragmentation-free library construction and sequencing of one-tube mixtures, as well as rapid data analysis using an in-house pipeline.

RESULTSNGS data demonstrated that both barcoded primer sets were useful to simultaneously capture multiple viral pathogens in cell culture materials or clinical specimens and verified that hexanucleotide primers captured as many viral sequences as hexamers did. Moreover, direct testing of clinical specimens using this improved hexanucleotide primer-based NGS approach provided further detailed genotypes of enteroviruses causing hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) and identified other potential viruses or differentiated misdiagnosis events.

CONCLUSIONThe improved barcoded oligonucleotide primer-based NGS approach is simplified, time saving, cost effective, and appropriate for direct identification of viral pathogens in clinical practice.

Clinical Laboratory Techniques ; DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic ; DNA Primers ; Enterovirus ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Herpesvirus 4, Human ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Influenza B virus ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; methods ; Sequence Analysis, RNA ; methods

There has been increasing interest in standardized and quantitative Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA testing for the management of EBV disease. We evaluated the performance of the Real-Q EBV Quantification Kit (BioSewoom, Korea) in whole blood (WB). Nucleic acid extraction and real-time PCR were performed by using the MagNA Pure 96 (Roche Diagnostics, Germany) and 7500 Fast real-time PCR system (Applied Biosystems, USA), respectively. Assay sensitivity, linearity, and conversion factor were determined by using the World Health Organization international standard diluted in EBV-negative WB. We used 81 WB clinical specimens to compare performance of the Real-Q EBV Quantification Kit and artus EBV RG PCR Kit (Qiagen, Germany). The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) for the Real-Q kit were 453 and 750 IU/mL, respectively. The conversion factor from EBV genomic copies to IU was 0.62. The linear range of the assay was from 750 to 10⁶ IU/mL. Viral load values measured with the Real-Q assay were on average 0.54 log₁₀ copies/mL higher than those measured with the artus assay. The Real-Q assay offered good analytical performance for EBV DNA quantification in WB.
DNA, Viral/*blood/metabolism ; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections/diagnosis/virology ; Herpesvirus 4, Human/*genetics/isolation & purification ; Humans ; Limit of Detection ; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction

BACKGROUNDThere were only 3 multiple myeloma (MM) cell lines established in China. In this study, we succeeded in establishing a novel MM cell line and analyzed its biological characteristics.

METHODSMononuclear cells isolated from the peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) of a patient with advanced MM (lambda light chain type) were cultured in medium. Cell morphology was analyzed by Wright-Giemsa-staining and cytochemical staining, immunophenotyping by flow cytometry and cytogenetic analysis by chromosome RHG-banding technique. Quantitative fluorescent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect Epstein - Barr virus (EBV) DNA.

RESULTSThe established cell line could survive and proliferate in the presence of feeder cells or conditioned medium. The cells secreted lambda light chain and were negative for EBV. The Wright-Giemsa-staining showed typical plasmablast or plasma cell morphology. The cytochemical staining of the cells showed the following reactivity patterns: positive for acid phosphatase, negative for myeloperoxidase. The immunoprofile of the cells was concordant with that of MM cells: positive for CD10, CD28, CD38, CD138, CD56, CD49d, CD44, CD54 and CD58, negative for CD19, CD40, CD95, CD95L, CD34, CD2 and CD5. The cytogenetic analysis showed complex chromosome abnormality of i (1q+), 8q+, 13q+, i (17q), i (18q) and +M. There was no difference in morphology, immunophenotype and cytogenetics between cells from PB and BM.

CONCLUSIONSAn MM cell line secreting lambda light chain named CZ-1 was established. The cells from both PB and BM have the same biological characteristics.

Cell Line, Tumor ; Chromosome Aberrations ; Herpesvirus 4, Human ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Myeloma ; genetics ; pathology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

A CD30+ anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) cell line was established from the mononuclear cells isolated from pleural effusion of a patient with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The cell line's biological characteristics were analyzed. The results showed that the established cell line could survive and proliferate in RPIM 1640 medium; the Wright-Giemsa-stained cells were exactly similar to malignant cells of CD30+ ALCL in morphology, with many diffuse virus granules in cytoplasm; the cytochemical staining of the cells showed the following reactivity pattern: positive for acid phosphatase (ACP) and periodic acid-Schiff (PAS), negative for peroxidase (POX), myeloperoxidase (MPO) and platelet peroxidase (PPO). The immunoprofile of the cells was positive for CD45, HLA-DR, CD30 and negative for EMA, CD34, CD38, CD2, CD3, CD4, CD7, CD8, CD10, CD15, CD19 and CD20. The cytogenetic analysis showed complicate d qualitative and quantitative abnormality of chromosomes, without typical t(2;5). It is concluded that the established cell line is CD30+ anaplastic large cell lymphoma cell line.
Apoptosis ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Female ; Herpesvirus 4, Human ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Immunophenotyping ; Karyotyping ; Ki-1 Antigen ; analysis ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse ; genetics ; immunology ; pathology ; Middle Aged

Forty-five cases of histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis (HNL) or Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease were reviewed clinico-pathologically and studied for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) by in situ hybridization to assess their causative role. Histologically, the lymph nodes typically showed relatively well defined paracortical lesions composed of large atypical mononuclear cells, histiocytes, and karyorrhectic nuclear debris. Mild to moderate degree of coagulation type necrosis was present in 24 cases. Clinical features did not vary greatly from previously described female preponderance, young age onset, subacute cervical lymphadenopathy, and frequent leukopenia, except for a few cases with recurrent disease over 8-9 years. Serologic tests revealed EBV IgG antibody in one case, HBV surface antibody in 11 cases and HBV surface antigen in 2 cases. In situ hybridization was performed on 41 cases using internal repeat 1 fragment DNA and EBV-coded small RNA (EBER-1) for EBV, and pan-HBV DNA probe for HBV detection, and showed that all cases were negative for EBV or HBV genome. Our results suggest EBV or HBV may not have causative role in the pathogenesis of HNL.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; DNA, Viral/analysis ; Female ; Hepatitis B Virus/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Herpesvirus 4, Human/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Histiocytes/pathology/*virology ; Human ; In Situ Hybridization ; Lymphadenitis/pathology/*virology ; Male ; Middle Age