Hodgkin's Disease Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Hodgkin's Disease, including details on causes, cancer, lymphoma, stages, symptoms.

Latent membrane protein 1 deletion mutants accumulate in reed-sternberg cells of human immunodeficiency virus-related Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Guidoboni M, Ponzoni M, Caggiari L, Lettini AA, Vago L, De Re V, Gloghini A, Zancai P, Carbone A, Boiocchi M, Dolcetti R

Immunovirology and Biotherapy Unit, Department of Pre-Clinical and Epidemiological Research, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico, IRCCS, National Cancer Institute, via Pedemontana Occidentale 12, 33081 Aviano (PN) Italy.

The origin and biological significance of deletions at the 3' end of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-encoded latent membrane protein 1 (LMP-1) gene are still controversial. We herein demonstrate that LMP-1 deletion mutants are highly associated with human immunodeficiency virus-related Hodgkin's lymphoma (HIV-HL) of Italian patients (29 of 31 cases; 93.5%), a phenomenon that is not due to a peculiar distribution of EBV strains in this area. In fact, although HIV-HL patients are infected by multiple EBV variants, we demonstrate that LMP-1 deletion mutants preferentially accumulate within neoplastic tissues. Subcloning and sequencing of the 3' LMP-1 ends of two HIV-HL genes in which both variants were present showed the presence of molecular signatures suggestive of a likely derivation of the LMP-1 deletion mutant from a nondeletion ancestor. This phenomenon likely occurs within tumor cells in vivo, as shown by the detection of both LMP-1 variants in single microdissected Reed-Sternberg cells, and may at least in part explain the high prevalence of LMP-1 deletions associated with HIV-HL.

Published 31 January 2005 in J Virol, 79(4): 2643-9.
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