The human papillomavirus (HPV) minor capsid protein L2 is a promising candidate for a broadly protective HPV vaccine yet the titers obtained in most experimental systems are rather low. Here we examine the potential of empty AAV2 particles (AAVLPs), assembled from VP3 alone, for display of L2 epitopes to enhance their immunogenicity. Insertion of a neutralizing epitope (amino acids 17-36) from ...

BACKGROUND Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated strong and consistent associations between the detection of human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 DNA and the risk of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and cervical cancer. However, HPV16 is also the most common type of HPV in the normal population, and only a minority of women with HPV16 infection develop cervical cancer. Studies of genomi...

BACKGROUND Human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 cause invasive cervical cancer and most invasive anal cancers (IACs). Overall, IAC rates are highest among men who have sex with men (MSM), especially MSM with HIV infection. Testosterone is prescribed for men showing hypogonadism and HIV-related wasting. While there are direct and indirect physiological effects of testosterone in males, its...

Sexual transmission of human papillomavirus (HPV), particularly HPV16, has been associated with an increasing incidence of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPC). Telomere shortening results in chromosomal instability, subsequently leading to cancer development. Given that HPV16 can affect telomerase activity and telomere length, we conjectured that telomere length in peripheral blood lymp...

Cancer-associated epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is crucial for invasion and metastasis. Molecular hallmarks of EMT include down-regulation of the epithelial adhesion protein E-cadherin and de-novo expression of N-cadherin and the mesenchymal intermediate filament proteins vimentin and fibronectin. Expression of HPV16 E7 in normal human epithelial cells caused increased levels of vi...

Studies of virus neutralization by antibody are a prerequisite for development of a prophylactic vaccine strategy against human papillomaviruses (HPVs). Using HPV16 and -6 pseudovirions capable of inducing beta-galactosidase in infected monkey COS-1 cells, we examined the neutralizing activity of mouse monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) that recognize surface epitopes in HPV16 minor capsid protein L2...

Human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 infects the epithelial layer of cervical mucosa and is causally associated with the generation of cervical cancer. Langerhans cells (LC) are the resident APCs at the site of infection and therefore are responsible for initiating an immune response against HPV16. On the contrary, LC exposed to HPV16 do not induce a specific T cell immune response, which leads t...

Naturally occurring genetic variants of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) are common and have previously been classified into 4 major lineages; European-Asian (EAS), including the sublineages European (EUR) and Asian (As), African 1 (AFR1), African 2 (AFR2), and North-American/Asian-American (NA/AA). We aimed to improve the classification of HPV16 variant lineages by using a large resource o...

Human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) and other high-risk HPVs are etiologically linked to the development of cervical carcinomas and contribute to a number of other tumors of the anogenital tract, as well as oral cancers. The high-risk HPV E6 and E7 oncoproteins are consistently expressed in cervical cancer cells and are necessary for the induction and maintenance of the transformed phenotype. ...

BACKGROUND Little is known about factors determining HPV16 persistence and progression, but several studies have suggested that genetic variants may play a role. METHODS HPV16-positive women with normal cytology in a large Danish cohort were reassessed for HPV16 status at 2 years and followed-up for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 3 or worse (CIN3+) over 11 years through linkage with a nat...