Review
Immunology
Cong Sun, Xin-chun Chen, Yin-feng Kang, Mu-sheng Zeng
Summary: EBV is a common human herpesvirus associated with infectious mononucleosis, malignancies, and autoimmune diseases. Despite efforts to develop a prophylactic vaccine, there is currently no EBV vaccine in clinical use. Insights from the COVID-19 pandemic and global vaccine development offer opportunities for designing an effective prophylactic EBV vaccine to control worldwide EBV infection and associated diseases.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Yaxian Ma, Peiling Zhang, Yuhan Bao, Hui Luo, Jiachen Wang, Liang Huang, Miao Zheng
Summary: Chronic active Epstein-Barr virus (CAEBV) disease is a high-mortality disease characterized by persistent infectious mononucleosis-like symptoms. This study analyzed the outcomes of PD-1 inhibitors treatment for CAEBV patients and found that the treatment had a high response rate and tolerable toxicity.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Virology
Ting Shi, Linlin Huang, Zhengrong Chen, Jianmei Tian
Summary: This study investigated the characteristics of primary EBV infection and reactivation in children in Suzhou, China, finding that primary EBV infection was more common in children aged 36 to <72 months and often led to infectious mononucleosis. Reactivation of EBV mainly occurred in children aged 8 to <36 months and was identified as a risk factor for hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). Among reactivated patients, HLH had a higher viral load compared to EBV infection and respiratory infection.
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Virology
Qiliang Lu, Wen Fu, Guangxiong Ouyang, Qiuran Xu, Dongsheng Huang
Summary: This case highlights the importance of considering EBV infection in young patients with spleen rupture without obvious cause to prevent misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis.
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY
(2022)
Review
Immunology
Asma Hassani, Gulfaraz Khan
Summary: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease of the central nervous system (CNS) characterized by demyelination, inflammation, and neurodegeneration. It is believed that both genetic predisposition and environmental factors contribute to the development of MS, with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) being one of the possible environmental culprits. However, the mechanism by which EBV induces MS pathogenesis remains unknown. This review highlights the use of animal models, including nonhuman primates (NHP), rodents, and rabbits, to understand the link between EBV and MS and the role of virus-immune interaction disruption in viral pathogenesis and neuroinflammation. The findings from these animal models can provide directions for future studies aimed at unraveling the mechanism(s) by which EBV induces MS and developing preventive and therapeutic interventions for the disease.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Microbiology
Cyril Debuysschere, Magloire Pandoua Nekoua, Didier Hober
Summary: Viral infections, particularly Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), have long been suspected to play a role in the development and progression of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren's syndrome, and type 1 diabetes. EBV has a complex lifecycle in infected B-cells, producing viral proteins and miRNAs. This review highlights the detection of EBV infection in MS patients, focusing on markers of latency and lytic phases. The presence of latency proteins, antibodies, and miRNAs in the central nervous system of MS patients suggests a link between EBV and MS.
Article
Microbiology
Quincy Rosemarie, Elijah Kirschstein, Bill Sugden
Summary: We have discovered how Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) induces the reorganization of cellular chromatin, with viral DNA replication occurring in the chromatin-free regions. Five families of DNA viruses induce similar reorganization, and they infect a variety of hosts. The viral genes and processes required for EBV's chromatin reorganization have been identified, and a two-step model for the process has been proposed. The importance of chromatin reorganization in viral life cycles is emphasized. Overall, a 9 out of 10 score is given for the importance of this research.
Article
Oncology
Samantha S. Soldan, Emma M. Anderson, Drew M. Frase, Yue Zhang, Lisa B. Caruso, Yin Wang, Julianna S. Deakyne, Benjamin E. Gewurz, Italo Tempera, Paul M. Lieberman, Troy E. Messick
Summary: The study demonstrated that the EBNA1 inhibitor VK-1727 selectively inhibited cell growth in EBV-positive gastric carcinoma and reduced tumor growth in animal models, but not in EBV-negative gastric carcinoma. Short-term treatment tended to activate viral genes, while long-term treatment resulted in significant decrease in viral gene expression.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Yoshimi Enose-Akahata, Limin Wang, Fahad Almsned, Kory R. Johnson, Yair Mina, Joan Ohayon, Xin Wei Wang, Steven Jacobson
Summary: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS), and the cause of MS remains unknown. This study investigated the antibody responses against various viruses in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum of MS patients, and found significant differences compared to healthy volunteers, as well as a pattern of antibody responses against multiple viruses, including Epstein-Barr virus. These findings indicate that virus-specific antibody signatures might reflect the disease-associated inflammatory milieu in the CSF of patients with neuroinflammatory diseases.
Article
Infectious Diseases
David B. Villafuerte, Olga Lavrynenko, Rayan Qazi, Marco F. Passeri, Fernando L. Sanchez
Summary: A 60-year-old Hispanic female was admitted to the hospital with recurrent fevers, altered mental status, lymphadenopathy, hepatosplenomegaly, and pancytopenia. Extensive workup revealed chronic active Epstein-Barr virus infection. Treatment initially showed positive results, but the patient became co-infected with COVID-19, leading to a rapid decline in health and death.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2022)
Article
Hematology
Hannes Vietzen, Philippe L. Furlano, Jan J. Cornelissen, Georg A. Boehmig, Peter Jaksch, Elisabeth Puchhammer-Stoeckl
Summary: This study found that nonclassic human leukocyte antigen E (HLA-E)-restricted immune responses have a significant impact on the development of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) diseases in the individual host. The highly expressed HLA-E*0103/0103 genotype is protective against infectious mononucleosis (IM) by inducing potent EBV BZLF1-specific HLA-E-restricted CD8(+) T-cell responses. Variations in the inhibitory NKG2A/LMP-1/HLA-E axis are associated with the risk of symptomatic EBV reactivations in both immunocompetent individuals and immunocompromised transplant recipients.
Review
Oncology
Jianyu Hu, Xue Zhang, Huan Tao, Yongqian Jia
Summary: This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic significance of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients. The results showed that EBV positivity was associated with poorer overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) in HL patients. However, the presence of EBV in HL did not affect failure-free survival, progression-free survival, or event-free survival. Subgroup analyses also revealed that EBV positivity was associated with a poorer prognosis in elderly patients, while children and adolescents with EBV-positive HL tended to have a better prognosis, although not statistically significant.
FRONTIERS IN ONCOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Pathology
Sudipta Samanta, Muthukaruppan Swaminathan, Jianing Hu, Khai Tuck Lee, Ajitha Sundaresan, Chuan Keng Goh, Chor Hiang Siow, Kwok Seng Loh, Soh Ha Chan, Joshua K. Tay, Ian Cheong
Summary: The use of immunofluorescence assay for detecting serum Epstein-Barr virus antibodies is the gold standard screening test for nasopharyngeal cancer in high-risk populations. This study demonstrates that integrating deep learning with automated fuzzy inference can improve the scalability and accuracy of NPC detection.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PATHOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Wei Xia, Honglin Chen, Yiwei Feng, Nan Shi, Zongjian Huang, Qingyuan Feng, Xu Jiang, Guangyao He, Mao Xie, Yongjin Lai, Zhi Wang, Xiang Yi, Anzhou Tang
Summary: The study demonstrates that the tree shrew is a suitable animal model for evaluating the mechanisms of EBV infection and for developing vaccines and therapeutic drugs against EBV. This is due to its close phylogenetic relationship with humans, making it a valuable tool for studying viral infections and human diseases.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Muhammad Faraz Raghib, Evanthia Bernitsas, Masaru Tanaka
Summary: This systematic review examines the effect of antimicrobials on multiple sclerosis (MS). While animal models have shown promising results, studies in humans have been limited, with only some antibiotics and antiparasitic drugs showing improvement. Further large, multicenter, well-designed studies are needed to evaluate the effect of antimicrobials in MS.
Article
Microbiology
Anita Murer, Julia Ruhl, Andrea Zbinden, Riccarda Capaul, Wolfgang Hammerschmidt, Obinna Chijioke, Christian Munz
Review
Oncology
Christian Munz
SEMINARS IN CANCER BIOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Cell Biology
Vojo Deretic, Eric Prossnitz, Mark Burge, Matthew J. Campen, Judy Cannon, Ke Jian Liu, Meilian Liu, Pamela Hall, Larry A. Sklar, Lee Allers, Luisa Mariscal, Sally Ann Garcia, John Weaver, Eric H. Baehrecke, Christian Behrends, Francesco Cecconi, Patrice Codogno, Guang-Chao Chen, Zvulun Elazar, Eeva-Liisa Eskelinen, Bernard Fourie, Devrim Gozuacik, Wanjin Hong, Eun-Kyeong Jo, Terje Johansen, Gabor Juhasz, Adi Kimch, Nicholas Ktistakis, Guido Kroemer, Noboru Mizushima, Christian Muenz, Fulvio Reggiori, David Rubinsztein, Kevin Ryan, Kate Schroder, Han-Min Shen, Anne Simonsen, Sharon A. Tooze, Maria Vaccaro, Tamotsu Yoshimori, Li Yu, Hong Zhang, Daniel J. Klionsky
Correction
Microbiology
Anita Murer, Julia Ruhl, Andrea Zbinden, Riccarda Capaul, Wolfgang Hammerschmidt, Obinna Chijioke, Christian Munz
Article
Immunology
Peter O. Oluoch, Cliff I. Oduor, Catherine S. Forconi, John M. Ong'echa, Christian Munz, Dirk P. Dittmer, Jeffrey A. Bailey, Ann M. Moormann
JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2020)
Review
Immunology
Christian Muenz
Review
Cell Biology
Christian Munz
Review
Virology
Christian Munz
Summary: The oncogenes encoded by EBV and KSHV manipulate cellular processes like autophagy, proliferation, and apoptosis to ensure their efficient persistence and dissemination in hosts without causing pathologies in most carriers. These mechanisms allow the viruses to strike a balance between infectivity and host immune response, preventing clearance and minimizing symptoms.
Review
Oncology
Yun Deng, Christian Muenz
Summary: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infects over 95% of the adult human population, usually controlled by immune responses. Genetic variations affect cytotoxic lymphocytes' role in immune control against EBV. Humanized mice models offer insights into molecular mechanisms during EBV infection and potential vaccine development.
Review
Immunology
Christian Munz
Summary: Herpesviruses play a key role in shaping NK cell repertoires, with CMV driving NKG2C-positive NK cell accumulation and EBV expanding NKG2A-positive NK cells. While adaptive NK cells support immunity through antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, NKG2A-positive NK cells seem to target lytic EBV replicating B cells. The importance of restricting EBV replication during gamma-herpesvirus pathogenesis will be discussed, along with summarizing the impact of coinfections on EBV-driven NK cell expansion.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Christian Muenz
Summary: The Epstein Barr virus can be controlled by the immune system in most carriers, but deficiencies in certain molecular pathways can lead to EBV-associated pathologies. Co-stimulatory and co-inhibitory molecules play a crucial role in EBV-specific immune control.
Review
Microbiology
Fabienne Laederach, Christian Muenz
Summary: This review summarizes epidemiological evidence supporting EBV infection as a prerequisite for MS development, describes altered EBV-specific immune responses in MS patients, and speculates on possible pathogenic mechanisms underlying the synergy between EBV infection and the MS-associated MHC class II haplotype. Therapies targeting EBV-infected B cells are being explored in MS patients, with a need for better mechanistic understanding and innovative experimental systems to test proposed mechanisms.
Review
Cell Biology
Fabienne Laederach, Christian Muenz
Summary: Strong epidemiologic evidence supports the association between Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection and altered immune control to the development of multiple sclerosis (MS). The mechanisms linking the two remain largely unknown. Two main possibilities for this association are discussed. Immune responses induced during a symptomatic primary EBV infection might be amplified over time, leading to central nervous system inflammation and demyelination. Alternatively, genetic predisposition and environmental factors may result in insufficient immune control of EBV-infected B cells, leading to autoimmune T cell stimulation or CNS inflammation. Understanding EBV's contribution to MS could potentially open new treatment possibilities for this autoimmune disease.
Review
Microbiology
Blossom Damania, Christian Muenz
FEMS MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS
(2019)
Article
Hematology
Cornelia Gujer, Anita Murer, Anne Mueller, Danusia Vanoaica, Kathrin Sutter, Emilie Jacque, Nathalie Fournier, Jens Kalchschmidt, Andrea Zbinden, Riccarda Capaul, Andrzej Dzionek, Philippe Mondon, Ulf Dittmer, Christian Muenz
