Epstein–Barr Virus-Induced Metabolic Rearrangements in Human B-Cell Lymphomas

• Main Authors: Pier P. Piccaluga, Alessandra Weber, Maria R. Ambrosio, Yonis Ahmed, Lorenzo Leoncini
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2018-06-01
• Series: Frontiers in Microbiology
• Subjects: Epstein-Barr virus; EBV; lymphoma; metabolism; review; MYC
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2018.01233/full

Tumor metabolism has been the object of several studies in the past, leading to the pivotal observation of a consistent shift toward aerobic glycolysis (so-called Warburg effect). More recently, several additional investigations proved that tumor metabolism is profoundly affected during tumorigenesis, including glucose, lipid and amino-acid metabolism. It is noticeable that metabolic reprogramming can represent a suitable therapeutic target in many cancer types. Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) was the first virus linked with cancer in humans when Burkitt lymphoma (BL) was described. Besides other well-known effects, it was recently demonstrated that EBV can induce significant modification in cell metabolism, which may lead or contribute to neoplastic transformation of human cells. Similarly, virus-induced tumorigenesis is characterized by relevant metabolic abnormalities directly induced by the oncoviruses. In this article, the authors critically review the most recent literature concerning EBV-induced metabolism alterations in lymphomas.