Upregulation of the Truncated Basic Hair Keratin 1 (hHb1-ΔN) in Carcinoma Cells by Epstein-Barr Virus

September 2003 in “ International Journal of Cancer ”

Jun Nishikawa, Csaba Kiss, S Imai, Kenzo Takada, Kiwamu Okita, George Klein, László Székely

TLDR EBV infection increases a specific keratin variant in carcinoma cells, possibly affecting cell structure and cancer progression.

The study investigated the role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in epithelial tumors by examining gene expression in EBV-infected and uninfected gastric carcinoma cell lines. It was found that EBV infection upregulated a truncated variant of human basic hair keratin 1 (hHb1-ΔN), previously identified in metastatic breast carcinoma. This upregulation was confirmed in multiple EBV-positive and -negative cell lines using various molecular techniques. The hHb1-ΔN protein, detectable in EBV-positive cells, formed fibrous structures in the cytoplasm and accumulated in nuclear bodies, suggesting it might disrupt keratin cytoskeleton functions or transcription regulation. The findings indicated a potential link between EBV and the anaplastic status of carcinomas carrying the virus.

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Truncated hHb1 keratin may play a role in breast cancer cell transformation.

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