Transformation of Nonhuman Primate Lymphocytes by Epstein-Barr Virus1

Continuous lymphoblastoid cell cultures were established from marmoset (Saguinus sp.), squirrel (SaimirÃ-sciureus), owl (Aotus trivirgatus), and cebus (Cebus apella) monkeys after their peripheral lymphocytes were cultured with lethally, X-irradiated cells carrying Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Simian lymphocytes were also transformed after exposure to infectious, cell-free EBV derived from some simian lymphoblastoid cell cultures. EBV-induced early, viral capsid, and membrane antigens, intranuclear inclusion bodies, and herpesvirus virions were demonstrable in most cell cultures. All cell cultures had B-cell characteristics; they produced immunoglobulins but did not form spontaneous rosettes with sheep erythrocytes. Four of six marmoset monkeys inoculated with EBV-transformed marmoset lym phocytes developed antibodies to Epstein-Barr viral capsid antigens, one marmoset inoculated with autochthonous transformed cells developed heterophile antibodies, and one of five marmosets inoculated with cell-free EBV developed a lymphoma. No overt clinical abnormalities were detected in any of the inoculated marmosets.