Induction of p16(INK4a) is the major barrier to proliferation when Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) transforms primary B cells into lymphoblastoid cell lines.

ABSTRACT: To explore the role of p16(INK4a) as an intrinsic barrier to B cell transformation by EBV, we transformed primary B cells from an individual homozygous for a deletion in the CDKN2A locus encoding p16(INK4a) and p14(ARF). Using recombinant EBV-BAC viruses expressing conditional EBNA3C (3CHT), we developed a system that allows inactivation of EBNA3C in lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) lacking active p16(INK4a) protein but expressing a functional 14(ARF)-fusion protein (p14/p16). The INK4a locus is epigenetically repressed by EBNA3C--in cooperation with EBNA3A--despite the absence of functional p16(INK4a). Although inactivation of EBNA3C in LCLs from normal B cells leads to an increase in p16(INK4a) and growth arrest, EBNA3C inactivation in the p16(INK4a)-null LCLs has no impact on the rate o

SUBMITTER: Skalska L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3578823 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature