The Role of Epstein-Barr Virus in Modulating Key Tumor Suppressor Genes in Associated Malignancies: Epigenetics, Transcriptional, and Post-Translational Modifications

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is ubiquitous and carried by approximately 90% of the world’s adult population. Several mechanisms and pathways have been proposed as to how EBV facilitates the pathogenesis and progression of malignancies, such as Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Burkitt’s lymphoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and gastric cancers, the majority of which have been linked to viral proteins that are expressed upon infection including latent membrane proteins (LMPs) and Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigens (EBNAs). EBV expresses microRNAs that facilitate the progression of some cancers. Mostly, EBV induces epigenetic silencing of tumor suppressor genes, degradation of tumor suppressor mRNA transcripts, post-translational modification, and inactivation of tumor suppressor proteins. This review summarizes the mechanisms by which EBV modulates different tumor suppressors at the molecular and cellular levels in associated cancers. Briefly, EBV gene products upregulate DNA methylases to induce epigenetic silencing of tumor suppressor genes via hypermethylation. MicroRNAs expressed by EBV are also involved in the direct targeting of tumor suppressor genes for degradation, and other EBV gene products directly bind to tumor suppressor proteins to inactivate them. All these processes result in downregulation and impaired function of tumor suppressors, ultimately promoting malignances.