Distinct ex vivo susceptibility of B-cell subsets to epstein-barr virus infection according to differentiation status and tissue origin

Abstract

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) uses tonsils as the portal of entry to establish persistent infection. EBV is found in various B-cell subsets in tonsils but exclusively in memory B cells in peripheral blood. The in vitro susceptibilities of B-cell subsets to EBV infection have been studied solely qualitatively. In this work, we examined quantitatively the in vitro susceptibilities of various B-cell subsets from different tissue origins to EBV infection. First, we established a centrifugation-based inoculation protocol (spinoculation) that resulted in a significantly increased proportion of infected cells compared to that obtained by conventional inoculation, enabling a detailed susceptibility analysis. Importantly, B-cell infection occurred via the known EBV receptors and infected cells showed EBV mRNA expression patterns similar to those observed after conventional inoculation, validating our approach. Tonsillar naïve and memory B cells were infected ex vivo at similar frequencies. In contrast, memory B cells from blood, which represent B cells from various lymphoid tissues, were infected at lower frequencies than their naïve counterparts. Immunoglobulin A (IgA)-positive or IgG-positive tonsillar memory B cells were significantly more susceptible to EBV infection than IgM-positive counterparts. Memory B cells were transformed with lower efficiency than naïve B cells. This result was paralleled by lower proliferation rates. In summary, these data suggest that EBV exploits the B-cell differentiation status and tissue origin to establish persistent infection.