Repository logo
 

Host genetics of Epstein-Barr virus infection, latency and disease.


Change log

Authors

Houldcroft, Charlotte J 
Kellam, Paul 

Abstract

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infects 95% of the adult population and is the cause of infectious mononucleosis. It is also associated with 1% of cancers worldwide, such as nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Hodgkin's lymphoma and Burkitt's lymphoma. Human and cancer genetic studies are now major forces determining gene variants associated with many cancers, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma and Hodgkin's lymphoma. Host genetics is also important in infectious disease; however, there have been no large-scale efforts towards understanding the contribution that human genetic variation plays in primary EBV infection and latency. This review covers 25 years of studies into host genetic susceptibility to EBV infection and disease, from candidate gene studies, to the first genome-wide association study of EBV antibody response, and an EBV-status stratified genome-wide association study of Hodgkin's lymphoma. Although many genes are implicated in EBV-related disease, studies are often small, not replicated or followed up in a different disease. Larger, appropriately powered genomic studies to understand the host response to EBV will be needed to move our understanding of the biology of EBV infection beyond the handful of genes currently identified. Fifty years since the discovery of EBV and its identification as a human oncogenic virus, a glimpse of the future is shown by the first whole-genome and whole-exome studies, revealing new human genes at the heart of the host-EBV interaction.

Description

Keywords

Epstein-Barr Virus Infections, Genetic Association Studies, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Herpesvirus 4, Human, Host-Pathogen Interactions, Humans, Virus Latency

Journal Title

Rev Med Virol

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1052-9276
1099-1654

Volume Title

25

Publisher

Wiley
Sponsorship
This work is support by the Wellcome Trust (grant 098051) and CJH is supported by MRC Doctoral Training Grant G0900209.