Epstein-Barr Virus

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a human gamma herpes virus that remains one of the most successful viral parasites known to man. It is the etiological agent of infectious mononucleosis and is the major biological cofactor contributing to a number of human cancers including B-cell neoplasms (e.g. Burkitt's lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and immunoblastic lymphomas), certain forms of T-cell lymphoma, and some epithelial tumours (e.g. nasopharyngeal carcinomas and gastric carcinomas). The virus has the unique ability to persist in the infected, apparently healthy host for life. Understanding the molecular interaction between EBV and its human host, the ability of the virus to modulate the host immune system, its ability to 'hide' in B-memory cells and factors that trigger viral reactivation are fundamental to understanding the cellular and molecular pathogenesis of the virus. This is critical for the development of strategies for the prevention and control of infection and disease. In this book, world renowned EBV experts provide a critical and comprehensive review of every aspect of this important virus. By integrating genetic, immunologic, and cell biologic approaches to elucidate pathogenesis, penetrating new insights into the molecular and cellular interaction between EBV and its human host have emerged. Topics covered include: Discovery, history and seroepidemiology, EBV and the immune response, EBV genetics, EBV infection and persistence, latency, lytic proteins and reactivation control, vaccine approaches, animal models, and the future of EBV studies. This is essential reading for all EBV virologists as well as clinical and research scientists working on oncogenic viruses.

This textbook on EBV contains ten individual sections which are discovery, history and seroepidemiology; EBV and human diseases; EBV and immune responses; EBV genetics; EBV infection and persistence; EBV latency; EBV lytic proteins and reactivation control; EBV vaccine approaches; animal models and a final section on the future of EBV studies. These thirty three individual chapters which make up the ten sections are all written by investigators with substantial expertise in these specific areas of study and who are well recognized for their contributions. Each chapter is aimed to be as comprehensive as possible to provide the reader with the necessary background to quickly grasp the new and up to date information on the major concepts of infection, pathogenesis and control.

It should be acknowledged that every attempt was made to be as comprehensive as possible. However, in the area of lytic replication the text can definitely be improved. The chapters 27-29 by Drs. Kenney, Ooka and Swaminathan which covers reactivation, BARF1 function and post-transcription gene regulation by the EBV SM protein are substantial, but there is a lack of chapters dealing with additional lytic proteins and their functions in lytic replication and packaging. My hope is that these areas will be addressed in the future as we learn more about specific EBV antigens required for lytic replication and packaging and the cellular pathways and molecules that are involved.

The authors have all made sacrifices in time and effort in getting each chapter to me in a timely fashion and I am happy to say that even with some delays we were able to get all the chapters reviewed and modified in a reasonable time frame. I would like to thank all the contributors as well as others in the field who has given their time to making this effort possible and I hope that everyone is pleased with the final outcome. I would specifically like to thank Sir Anthony Epstein for providing the introductory chapter which provides a first hand account of the beginning, and Dr. Alan Rickinson who has been calm during my many phone calls nudging him to get his summary chapter which is quite impressive. I hope that this text is helpful and of interest to the many established and new investigators studying EBV and that the contributors feel a sense of accomplishment in seeing the final product. Thanks to everyone who have made this possible.