Epstein-Barr virus, Immunodeficiency, and Cancer: a Potential Crossreactivity Connection

Abstract

The Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) sequence was analyzed for similarity to human proteins that can cause, when altered, immunodeficiency. The following data were obtained: 1) numerous pentapeptides are shared between the viral antigen and human immunodeficiency-related proteins; 2) many of the shared peptides are also part of peptide epitopes cataloged as immunopositive in the Immune Epitope DataBase (IEDB) resource. The data suggest that anti-EBNA1 immune reactivity might lead to crossreactions with human proteins related to immunodeficiency, thus possibly establishing an immunosuppression status and contributing to defective cancer immunosurveillance.