Abstract
Explants of fresh biopsy specimens from non-neoplastic nasopharyngeal (NP) mucosa, nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), other tumours (OT) of the head and neck and freshly removed tonsils were treated with an Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) preparation from B95-8 cells and cultured. The mainly epitheloid outgrowths from these infected explants were then compared with those from their respective uninfected controls at 14 days. Growth stimulation occurred with a significantly higher frequency, and the degree of stimulation was generally higher with the infected NP explants than those of the similarly infected explants of other origins. Furthermore, after treatment with the virus preparation, several of the outgrowths from the NP explants showed growth characteristics and cellular morphology typical of those of transformed cells. Light microscopy has shown the changed NP cells to have epithelial characteristics. This is now being verified by electron microscopy, which has so far shown the presence of keratin fibrils and desmosomes in one specimen examined. They are also being examined for the presence of EBV-DNA and EBNA, and other features of transformation, including malignant tendency, by passage through athymic nude mice.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 24 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $10.79 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Huang, D., Ho, H., Ng, M. et al. Possible transformation of nasopharyngeal epithelial cells in culture with Epstein-Barr virus from B95-8 cells. Br J Cancer 35, 630–634 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1977.98
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1977.98
This article is cited by
-
A study on Epstein Barr Virus receptor activity in cell free extracts of human lymphoblastoid cells
Archives of Virology (1978)