Journal of General Virology

Epstein–Barr virus latent membrane protein 2A has no growth-altering effects when expressed in differentiating epithelia

Luz Longan and Richard Longnecker

Department of Microbiology-Immunology, Northwestern University Medical School, 303 E. Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611, USA

Previous studies using transgenic mice with B-cell expression of LMP2A demonstrated that LMP2A drives B-cell development and survival signal in the absence of normal B-cell receptor (BCR) signal transduction. To determine if LMP2A may have similar effects in epithelial differentiation, six transgenic murine lines were constructed and analysed with LMP2A expression directed to the epidermis by a keratin 14 (K14) promoter cassette. LMP2A protein expression was verified by immunofluorescence and immunoprecipitation of skin samples using LMP2A-specific antibodies. To evaluate the effects of LMP2A expression on epidermal differentiation, immunofluorescence and histochemistry were performed on tongue and tail samples of transgenic mice and their wild-type littermate controls using differentially expressed keratins. The analysis indicated that LMP2A does not alter the normal epithelial differentiation program in the epithelia of K14–LMP2A transgenic mice.

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© 2000 SGM

This article is now available in the September 2000 print issue of JGV (vol. 81, 2245-2252). The complete issue of the journal may be seen in electronic form on JGV Online.