High frequency of latent membrane protein-1 30-bp deletion variant with specific single mutations in Epstein-Barr virus-associated nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Moroccan patients

Latent membrane protein 1 (LMP-1) is an Epstein-Barr virus-encoded oncoprotein expressed in approximately 50-70% of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Previous studies have shown that NPC-derived LMP-1 variants carrying 30 bp deletion and specific mutations in the 3'C-terminal region confer high oncogenic potential and a weak immunogenicity. Although numerous polymorphism studies of LMP-1 have been carried out so far in the Asian population with NPC, very little is known in this regard on NPC patients from Northern Africa where there is a significantly high occurrence of this tumor. In our study, we examined the frequency of different LMP-1 sequence variants derived from Moroccan NPC patients. As compared to healthy donors, NPC patients showed a high prevalence of the 30bp deletion variant of LMP-1 (i.e. 84% vs. 36%; p<0.0005). Moreover, the del-LMP-1 variant derived from NPC tumors shared identical amino acid substitutions at positions 322, 334, 338, 352 and 366 with the Mediterranean (Med) variant, whereas those derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) had similar mutation pattern as China1 variant. Additional mutations within the 342-352 regions (identified in LMP-1 variants without deletion derived from NPC tumors) were not found in healthy donors' PBMC. Our results support the assumption that the distribution of LMP-1 variants in NPC tumors co-segregate with geographic regions. Indeed, Med variant is found more frequently in tumors from NPC Moroccan patients, whereas China1 variant is more prevalent in tumors from NPC patients in endemic regions for NPC.