Epstein–Barr nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) is a multifunctional, dimeric viral protein associated with Epstein–Barr virus (EBV).
When phosphorylation does not occur, replication and transcription activities of the protein are significantly decreased.
[3][4] EBNA1 also interacts with some viral promoters via several mechanisms,[5] further contributing to transcriptional regulation of EBNA1 itself as well as the other EBNAs (2 and 3) and of EBV latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1).
[8] Data also show that, though its role in extrachromosomal replication, EBNA1 also increases the growth of B cells,[1] thus aiding in the formation of malignancies.
Adoptive ex vivo transfer of EBNA-1-specific T cells is a feasible and well-tolerated therapeutic option,[9] however for optimal efficacy expansion protocols should use antigenic sequences from relevant EBV strains.