We have analysed a panel of different Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) and lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) for the expression of IL6 and IL6 receptor (IL6R). Epstein-Barr-Virus (EBV) positive or negative BL cell lines and the corresponding lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCL), derived from EBV immortalized mononuclear cells of the BL patients, were tested for the expression of IL6 mRNA and protein by Northern blot experiments and ELISA, and for the expression of the IL6R mRNA and protein by Northern blot Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) and flow cytometry. Our results demonstrate that six out of 19 Burkitt's lymphoma cell lines produced IL6 constitutively. All three cell lines infected with the EBV substrain B95-8 (B95-8 convertants) produced IL6, in contrast to the original EBV negative lines and to the cell lines infected with the EBV substrain P3HR1 (P3HR1 convertants). The produced IL6 was biologically active as shown by proliferation of the IL6 dependent cell line TEPC 1033 C2. The two BL cell lines with the highest level of IL6 production (190 pg/ml and 550 pg/ml) expressed in addition IL6R molecules on the cell surface. Monoclonal antibodies directed against IL6 did not inhibit the growth of these two BL cell lines, thus excluding autocrine stimulation in these lines. IL6R expression could be further demonstrated in all LCLs analysed, in five out of seven EBV positive BLs and two out of three B95-8 convertants, but only in one out of the six EBV negative BL cell lines. Our results suggest that EBV in immortalized B cells and in Burkitt's lymphoma cells can promote IL6 receptor expression.