Epstein-Barr virus-induced IgE production in limiting dilution cultures of normal human B cells.

The induction of in vitro IgE production in human B cells from normal, nonatopic donors has been difficult and somewhat controversial. We report that IgE production is consistently observed in limiting dilution cultures of in vitro Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-infected normal human B lymphocytes. The frequency of IgE-committed, EBV-responsive cells ranged from 1/810 to 1/10 000 B lymphocytes, and it was similar in peripheral (blood, tonsil) and central (bone marrow) tissue sites. Poisson distribution analysis of these limiting dilution cultures suggested that IgE-committed B cells comprise 0.1-1% of all EBV-responsive B lymphocytes.