Unique nuclear DNA sequences in the involved tissues of Hodgkin's and Burkitt's lymphomas.

Previous studies have demonstrated that Hodgkin's, Burkitt's, and other human lymphomas contain particulate elements encapsulating 70S RNA and RNA-dependent DNA polymerase. [(3)H]DNA probes endogenously synthesized by these particles were used to demonstrate that the nuclear DNA of the lymphomas contain particle-related sequences that cannot be detected (less than 1/20th of a copy per genome) in the DNA of normal cells. This result agrees with our earlier findings in human leukemias. The data are inconsistent with any etiologic concept that invokes germ-line transmission of at least one complete copy of the particulate information associated with the malignancy. The unique sequences found in the nuclear DNA of Burkitt's and Hodgkin's tissues are related to each other but not to the DNA of the Epstein-Barr virus.