Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for antibodies to ZEBRA, an epstein-barr trans-activator

Summary Patients with AIDS and AIDS-related complex often show symptoms of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) reactivation. Several EBV-encoded trans -acting factors activate the EBV lytic cycle, and one, called ZEBRA ( Bam HI Z EBV replication activator), controls the switch of EBV from a latent to a productive cycle. We describe here a simple ELISA test using a bacterially expressed ZEBRA protein as antigen. Utilizing this technique, we evaluated the humoral response to ZEBRA antigen in 38 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and 134 subjects with an asymptomatic HIV1 infection. The control group consisted of 40 healthy adult blood donors.