Abstract
Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) infection is ubiquitous worldwide and is associated with multiple cancers, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The importance of EBV viral genomic variation in NPC development and its striking epidemic in southern China has been poorly explored. Through large-scale genome sequencing of 270 EBV isolates and two-stage association study of EBV isolates from China, we identify two non-synonymous EBV variants within BALF2 that are strongly associated with the risk of NPC (odds ratio (OR) = 8.69, P = 9.69 × 10−25 for SNP 162476_C; OR = 6.14, P = 2.40 × 10−32 for SNP 163364_T). The cumulative effects of these variants contribute to 83% of the overall risk of NPC in southern China. Phylogenetic analysis of the risk variants reveals a unique origin in Asia, followed by clonal expansion in NPC-endemic regions. Our results provide novel insights into the NPC endemic in southern China and also enable the identification of high-risk individuals for NPC prevention.
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Data availability
The EBV sequencing data are deposited in the US National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database under BioProject ID PRJNA522388. EBV sequences are released in NCBI database under GenBank IDs MK540241–MK540470.
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Acknowledgements
We thank all of the participants for their generous support of the current study. We would also thank R. Sun, C. Wang, H. Chen, J. Shen and C. Jie for helpful discussions on viral biology and genetic statistical, evolutionary and phylogenetic analyses, W.-S. Liu and X. Zuo for providing code support, Z. Lin (Tulane University) for kindly sharing EBV genome annotation files and J.-Y. Shao from Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center for providing the MassArray iPlex platform. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81430059 to Y.-X.Z. and 81872228 to M.X.), the National Key R&D Program of China (2016YF0902000 to Y.-X.Z., and 2018YFC1406902 and 2018YFC0910400 to W.Z.), the National Cancer Institute at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) (R01CA115873-01 to H.-O.A. and Y.-X.Z., and R35-CA197449, P01-CA134294, U01-HG009088 and U19-CA203654 to X.L.) and the Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore (to J.L.).
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Contributions
Y.-X.Z., J.L. and W.Z. were the principal investigators who conceived the study. Y.-X.Z., J.L., W.Z. and M.X. designed and oversaw the study. J.L. and X.L. supervised the viral genome-wide association studies. W.W. supervised phylogenetic analysis. M.X. contributed to sample preparation, sequencing, genotyping, variant calling and genetic statistical analyses. Y.Y. contributed to sequencing, genotyping and variant calling. H.C. contributed to phylogenetic analyses. S.Z. contributed to genotyping and genetic statistical analyses. Z.Li contributed to genetic statistical analyses. Z.Z. contributed to collection of samples from the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical College. B.L. contributed to collection of samples from the Affiliated Hospital of the Qingdao University. X.G., M.-Y.C., R.P. and R.-H.X. contributed to collection of samples from Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center. H.-O.A., W.Y. and Y.-X.Z. supervised the design and implementation of the population-based case–control study in Zhaoqing. W.Y., E.T.C., S.-M.C., S.-H.X. and Z.Liu participated in the case–control study. The manuscript was drafted by M.X., J.L., W.Z. and Y.-X.Z., and revised by V.P. and E.T.C. All authors critically reviewed the article and approved the final manuscript.
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Supplementary Information
Supplementary Figures 1–15, Supplementary Tables 2–4, 6–17, 19 and 20, and Supplementary Note
Supplementary Table 1
Information of 270 EBV isolates sequenced in current study and 97 publicly accessed genomes included in our study
Supplementary Table 5
Variant information of EBV genome isolates sequenced in current study
Supplementary Table 18
The percentage of heterozygous variants in 270 EBV genome isolates
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Xu, M., Yao, Y., Chen, H. et al. Genome sequencing analysis identifies Epstein–Barr virus subtypes associated with high risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Nat Genet 51, 1131–1136 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-019-0436-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-019-0436-5
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