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Nature Medicine 8, 559 - 560 (2002)
doi:10.1038/nm0602-559

Cell-switching and kissing

Paul J. Farrell1

  1. Director and Professor of Tumour Virology Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College St. Mary's Campus, London, UK e-mail: p.farrell@ic.ac.uk


Epstein–Barr virus causes infectious mononucleosis, the "kissing disease" and is linked to cancers of both B lymphocytes and epithelial cells. A new study suggests how the virus may exploit its host by switching infection from one cell type to the other. (pages 594–599)


Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) infects most of the world's population. Once infected, humans carry the virus for life in a small fraction of their B lymphocytes1.

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REFERENCE
Epstein–Barr Virus
Nature Encyclopaedia of Life Sciences

RESEARCH
Alternate replication in B cells and epithelial cells switches tropism of Epstein-Barr virus
Nature Medicine Article (01 Jun 2002)
Epstein-Barr virus infection of polarized tongue and nasopharyngeal epithelial cells
Nature Medicine Article (01 Mar 2003)