Reactive oxygen signaling and MAPK activation distinguish Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-positive versus EBV-negative Burkitt's lymphoma

Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) is an aggressive B cell neoplasm, which is one of the most common neoplasms of childhood. It is highly widespread in East Africa, where it appears in endemic form associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection, and around the world in a sporadic form in which EBV infection is much less common. In addition to being the first human neoplasm to be associated with EBV, BL is associated with a characteristic translocation, in which the Ig promoter is translocated to constitutively activate the c-myc oncogene. Although many BLs respond well to chemotherapy, a significant fraction fails to respond to therapy, leading to death. In this article, we demonstrate that EBV-positive BL expresses high levels of activated mitogen-activated protein kinase and reactive oxygen species (ROS), and that ROS directly regulate NF-kappaB activation. EBV-negative BLs exhibit activation of phosphoinositol 3-kinase, but do not have elevated levels of ROS. Elevated reactive oxygen may play a role in diverse forms of viral carcinogenesis in humans, including cancers caused by EBV, hepatitis B, C, and human T cell lymphotropic virus. Our findings imply that inhibition of ROS may be useful in the treatment of EBV-induced neoplasia.