EPSTEIN-BARR VIRUS (EBV) CAUSES MONONUCLEOSIS AND IS STRONGLY IMPLICATED IN BURKITT'S LYMPHOMA AND NASOPHARYNGEALCARCINOMA (NPC).

EPSTEIN-BARR VIRUS (EBV) CAUSES MONONUCLEOSIS AND IS STRONGLY IMPLICATED IN BURKITT'S LYMPHOMA AND NASOPHARYNGEALCARCINOMA (NPC). INDIVIDUALS WITH THESE DISEASES PRODUCE ANTIBODIES TO VIRAL EARLY ANTIGEN (EA), NUCLEAR ANTIGEN (EBNA), AND VIRAL CAPSID ANTIGEN. THE IMMUNE RESPONSE TO EBV ANTIGENS IS AN IMPORTANT INDICATOR FOR CLINICAL EVALUATION AND TREATMENT. THE DETECTION OF EBV ANTIGENS IN TISSUES OF PATIENTS WOULD COMPLEMENT SEROLOGICAL SCREENING AND COULD PROVIDE PROOF OF EBV PRESENCE AND REPLICATION. MOLECULAR DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS HAS DESCRIBED THE BACTERIAL SYNTHESIS OF EBNA AND EA AND THE PREPARATION OF HIGH-TITER RABBIT SERA AND MOUSE MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES TO THESE ANTIGENS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PHASE I RESEARCH IS TO DEMONSTRATE THAT THESE IMMUNOLOGICAL REAGENTS CAN BE USED DIAGNOSTICALLY TO IDENTIFY EBNA AND EA IN FIXED SECTIONS OF TISSUE CULTURE CELLS AND IN SECTIONS OF TISSUES FROM NPC PATIENTS. HIGH-TITER MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES TO EBV ANTIGENS WILL BE PRODUCED TO PROVIDE LOW BACKGROUND AND CONSISTENT RESULTS IN A CLINICAL LABORATORY. THE PROPOSED STUDIES ARE RETROSPECTIVE IN NATURE AND WILL UTILIZE WELL-CHARACTERIZED SPECIMENS. THE OBJECTIVE OF PHASE II WILL BE TO APPLY THE DIAGNOSTIC ASSAYS CONCURRENTLY AND PROSPECTIVELY TO SAMPLES FROM PATIENTS AT RISK FOR EBV-RELATED COMPLICATIONS. THESE INCLUDE PATIENTS WITH NPC, INFECTIOUS MONONUCLEOSIS, BURKITT'S LYMPHOMA, BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTS, AND AIDS.