Latent membrane protein 1 and the B lymphocyte-a complex relationship.

The Epstein Barr Virus (EBV)-encoded latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) exerts numerous impacts on the functions of B lymphocytes, the cell type in which EBV establishes long-term latent infections. LMP1 expression has been implicated in making important contributions to a variety of human malignancies, as well as to autoimmune diseases. EBV also infects other types of immune cells, as well as nasopharyngeal epithelium, and evidence suggests that LMP1 functions may differ among cell types. In this review, we focus upon LMP1 functions in B cells. A variety of in vitro and in vivo model systems have been used by numerous groups of investigators to probe the ways in which LMP1 alters B-cell biology and the molecular mechanisms by which it exerts these effects. Here, we present a current overview of LMP1-mediated signaling pathways and downstream functions in B cells, the in vivo outcomes of LMP1 expression in model systems and humans, and the associations between LMP1 and human disease.