Identification of Epstein–Barr virus integrated sites in lymphoblastoid cell line (IB4)

IB4 is a lymphoblastoid cell line frequently used for the functional analysis of the latent genes of EBV. Previous study indicated that EBV whole genome is integrated tandemly as the linear viral genome into host genome of IB4, although sites of integration have not been determined. Through cloning of the junctional regions between EBV and host genomes, one of the integration sites was identified on the BamHI-C fragments around oriP sequences and another on the EcoRI-I fragment. Both of the integration sites were located on the clone RP11-119H12 of chromosome 4q25 and separated approximately 6.5 kbp from each other. The integration sites identified were apart from the genes of the host genome, indicating that both host gene and EBV latent genes are not altered by the integration event.