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. 1977 Sep;23(3):503-8.
doi: 10.1128/JVI.23.3.503-508.1977.

Clonal transformation of adult human leukocytes by Epstein-Barr virus

B Sugden, W Mark

Clonal transformation of adult human leukocytes by Epstein-Barr virus

B Sugden et al. J Virol. 1977 Sep.

Abstract

We have developed a clonal transformation assay for Epstein-Barr virus which uses adult human leukocytes as target cells. The target cells were isolated from Epstein-Barr seronegative donors, and the same donor's cells could be studied repeatedly over long periods of time. When these cells were transformed by Epstein-Barr virus and had proliferated sufficiently to be studied, they had an average cloning efficiency of 3%. Assuming this average cloning efficiency obtains at the onset of transformation, we calculate that transformation by Epstein-Barr virus leads to immortalization maximally of about 1 in 30 of the adult peripheral leukocytes exposed to the virus. Studying the number of colonies transformed as a function of the amount of virus to which the cells are exposed indicates that a single DNA-containing virus particle is sufficient to transform a cell. All of the transformed clones studied harbored viral DNA. This technique will now permit, for the first time, our studying clonal variations in adult peripheral leukocytes transformed by Epstein-Barr virus as a function of input multiplicity of the virus and of the donor's immune status.

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