Epstein-Barr virus: a master epigenetic manipulator

Consequences of EBV-induced epigenetic reprogramming. EBV infection of B cells and epithelial cells leads to cellular epigenetic changes that involve DNA methylation and histone modifications. Such epigenetic changes also affect the host epigenome altering cellular gene expression to states that are conducive for viral latency and replication, having effects on cell growth and differentiation. However, epigenetic changes to the host persist from one generation to the next, increasing the cellular heterogeneity of the population. In the context of cancer, virally-induced epigenetic changes may act as preneoplastic lesions that are retained in virally silent states or after loss of the viral genome as a mechanism for 'hit-and-run' oncogenesis.