Epstein-Barr virus gene expression in oral hairy leukoplakia.

A combination of Northern blotting and sequencing of clones from a cDNA library constructed using RNA isolated from oral hairy leukoplakia (OHL) has been used to study Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) gene expression in this AIDS-associated lesion, the only accessible source of in vivo-replicating EBV. Because of the limited amount of RNA available, Northern blotting was only useful for detection of very abundant EBV transcripts in the OHL biopsies. Analysis of cDNA clones containing the BdRF1, BCRF1, gp350/220, BARF0, and BKRF4 reading frames and further characterization of RNA structures spanning BCRF1 (viral IL-10) in lymphocytes infected with EBV has provided a preliminary comparison of some virus replicative gene expression in its two main host cell types. No expression of EBNA-1, EBNA-2, or EBNA-3A RNA was detected in the oral hairy leukoplakia cDNA library.