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Possible involvement in oncogenesis of a single base mutation in an internal ribosome entry site of Epstein–Barr nuclear antigen 1 mRNA
Author(s) -
Endo Rika,
Kikuta Hideaki,
Ebihara Takashi,
Ishiguro Nobuhisa,
Kobayashi Kunihiko
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/jmv.20022
Subject(s) - internal ribosome entry site , virology , biology , exon , epstein–barr virus , untranslated region , microbiology and biotechnology , virus , gene , messenger rna , translation (biology) , genetics
It has been reported recently that the U leader exon located within the 5′ untranslated region of Epstein–Barr nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) gene contains an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) element. Sequence analysis of the U leader exon was undertaken in samples from 19 patients with infectious mononucleosis and 19 patients with lethal lymphoproliferative diseases and in 15 spontaneously established lymphoblastoid cell lines. The sequence was conserved except for a single base substitution (T‐C) at position 67,585. Although the mutation was detected in only one case of infectious mononucleosis, it was found in more than half of the lethal lymphoproliferative diseases and all lymphoblastoid cell lines. The results suggest that a mutation in the IRES element affects EBNA1 gene expression at the translational level and provides Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)‐infected cells with a growth advantage, leading to immortalization of cells in vitro and to the development of lethal lymphoproliferative diseases in vivo. J. Med. Virol. 72:630–634, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.