Transcription from HPV-16 Early Promoter (P₉₇) in an HPV-16/HSV-1 Recombinant Virus

Abstract

Infection with Human papillomaviruses has been suggested to play an important role in the etiology of a number of human malignancies. The most investigated of HPVs is HPV-16. Infection with HPV-16, in association with other unknown factors, is implicated in the development of cervical cancer. Genetic analysis of HPVs has been hampered by the lack of an in vitro system in which the complete replicative cycle and the transcription of the various genes is possible. Replication and transcription of HPVs seem to be in part regulated by cellular factors expressed at different stages in the maturation of epithelial cells which constitute the normal hosts of those viruses. This study was primarily designed to address this difficulty. HPV-16 genome was introduced into a viral system, HSV-1, hoping that virally encoded factors can substitute for cellular factors required for the expression of HPV genes. This hypothesis was tested by analyzing the activity of the HPV-16 early promoter P₉₇ , in the constructed recombinant, in cells which are unsusceptible to infection with HPV-16. In Vero cells infected with the recombinant, P₉₇ was shown to be active. This suggests that HSV-1 encoded factors can influence transcription from endogenous papilloma promoters.