Stanford Study Links Lupus Progress toโข Common Virus, EBV
STANFORD,โ CA – Researchers at Stanford medicine have established a compelling linkโค between the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which infects approximately 95% of the population, and โฃtheโ development of โคlupus, an autoimmune disease. The study, published recently, โฃdetails howโ a viral protein, EBNA2,โฃ triggers a โcascade of genetic and โฃimmunological events withinโข B cells, ultimately leading to the self-attack characteristic of lupus.
EBV remains latent in B cells after initial infection. The Stanford team discoveredโข that โฃEBNA2 acts as a “transcription factor,” activating โขgenes โคwithin the B cell that promote inflammation. โThis activation includes turning on genes coding forโค other transcription factors, further amplifying the pro-inflammatory response.
The alteredโฃ B cells โthen function as โค”professional antigen-presenting cells,” stimulating helper T cells to target cell-nuclear components. Thes T cells,in โturn,recruit additional antinuclear B cells and killerโ T cells,creating โa substantial โขimmuneโ response. Critically, the study found thatโฃ evenโ uninfected โB cells can join this autoimmune attack if enough activated cells are present, resulting in โขlupus symptoms.
“If there areโ enough โof them, the result is a bout of lupus,” researchers โstate.
The findings suggest โขEBV may play a role in otherโ autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis, rheumatoidโข arthritis, and Crohn’s disease, โฃwhere EBNA2 activity has been observed. Researchers are investigatingโข whether specific EBV strains are more likely to initiate this autoimmune cascade.
While EBV vaccinesโ are in development โand โundergoing clinical trials, they โwould need to be administered shortly after birth to be effective,โฃ as they cannot โeliminate the virus in already-infected individuals.
Stanford University’s Officeโค of Technology โLicensing has filed a provisional patentโฃ submission related โtoโ the study’s findings. Researchers involved – Aaron Robinson,โ Fatima Younis,โ and Mahesh โPandit – are co-founders and stockholders of EBVio Inc.,a company developing an experimental lupus treatment involving complete B-cell โคdepletion followed by regenerationโ with EBV-free cells. Robinson is also a director and shareholder of Flatiron bio, โLLC.
The study was funded โby the Nationalโข Institutes of Health (grantsโ R01AR078268, R01AI173189-01, PATHO-PH2-SUB_17_23 and R01AI024717), the VA Palo โขAltoโข Health careโข System, the Lupus Research alliance, and the Brennan Family. Contributing institutions included the U.S.Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center,โ Cincinnati; the โฃUniversityโ ofโข Massachusetts School of Medicine; the University of โฃoklahoma โHealth Sciences Center; and Rockefeller university.
