AI Article Synopsis
- BALF0/1 is a protein linked to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) that affects cell death, but detecting it in infected cells has been challenging due to a lack of specific testing tools.
- Researchers successfully expressed and purified a shorter version of this protein (tBALF0) in bacteria and used it in an ELISA test to identify antibodies in EBV-infected individuals.
- The study found low levels of antibodies in patients with recent or past infections but higher levels in one-third of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, indicating a potential link between BALF0/1 and cancer development.
Article Abstract
BALF0/1 is a putative Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) protein that has been described as a modulator of apoptosis. So far, the lack of specific immunological reagents impaired the detection of native BALF0/1 in EBV-infected cells. This study describes the expression and purification of a truncated form of BALF0/1 (tBALF0) using a heterologous bacterial expression system. tBALF0 was further used as an antigen in an indirect Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) that unraveled the presence of low titer IgGs to BALF0/1 during primary (10.0%) and past (13.3%) EBV infection. Conversely high-titer IgGs to BALF0/1 were detected in 33.3% of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients suggesting that BALF0/1 and/or humoral response against it may contribute to NPC pathogenesis.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pep.2019.05.010 | DOI Listing |
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