Epstein–Barr Virus Promotes Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Stemness through the Warburg Effect

Abstract

Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) is associated with various human malignancies. An association between EBV infection and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has recently been reported. We established EBV-positive OSCC cells and demonstrated that EBV infection promoted OSCC progression. However, the mechanisms by which EBV promotes OSCC progression remain poorly understood. Therefore, we performed metabolic analyses of EBV-positive OSCC cells and established a xenograft model to investigate the viral contribution to OSCC progression. Here, we demonstrated that EBV infection induced mitochondrial stress by reducing the number of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copies. Microarray data from EBV-positive OSCC cells showed altered expression of glycolysis-related genes, particularly the upregulation of key genes involved in the Warburg effect, including LDHA, GLUT1, and PDK1. Furthermore, lactate production and LDH activity were elevated in EBV-positive OSCC cells. EBV infection significantly upregulated the expression levels of cancer stem cell (CSC) markers such as CD44 and CD133 in the xenograft model. In this model, tumor growth was significantly increased in EBV-positive SCC25 cells compared with that in uninfected cells. Furthermore, tumorigenicity increased after serial passages of EBV-positive SCC25 tumors. This study revealed the oncogenic role of EBV in OSCC progression by inducing the Warburg effect and cancer stemness.