Malignant transformation of Epstein-Barr virus-negative Akata cells by introduction of the BARF1 gene carried by Epstein-Barr virus.

Spontaneous loss of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genome in the BL cell line Akata led to loss of tumorigenicity in SCID mice, suggesting an important oncogenic activity of EBV in B cells. We previously showed that introduction of the BARF1 gene into the human B-cell line Louckes induced a malignant transformation in newborn rats (M. X.