title: Human papillomavirus type 18 E6 and E7 antibodies in human sera: increased anti-E7 prevalence in cervical cancer patients.
abstract: Antibody-reactive regions on the human papillomavirus type 18 (HPV-18) E6 and E7 proteins were identified with rabbit polyclonal anti-fusion protein sera by screening of an fd phage expression library containing subgenomic HPV-18 DNA fragments and by testing of overlapping decapeptides representing the E6 and E7 open reading frames. Peptides comprising the delineated regions (designated E6/1 to E6/4 and E7/1) were synthesized and used in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect anti-HPV-18 antibodies in human sera. A total of 232 human serum samples (identical numbers of cervical cancer patients and age-matched controls) collected in Tanzania were tested. Similar prevalences (between 0.8 and 4.3%) of antibodies recognizing the different E6 peptides were found in the sera from tumor patients and controls. With a synthetic 28-mer peptide (designated pepE701) comprising the E7/1 region, a significant difference was found: 10 of 116 tumor serum samples but 0 of 116 control serum samples showed a specific reaction (P less than 0.001). This observation confirms earlier results with HPV-16 E7 fusion proteins (I. Jochmus-Kudielka, A. Schneider, R. Braun, R. Kimmig, U. Koldovsky, K. E. Schneweis, K. Seedorf, and L. Gissmann, J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 81:1698-1704, 1989). A lower prevalence of anti-HPV-18 E7 antibodies was observed when 188 human serum samples collected in Germany from tumor patients and controls were tested (3 of 94 positive in the cancer group; 0 of 94 positive in the control group). The type specificity of anti-HPV-18 E7 antibodies was demonstrated when the HPV type found by Southern hybridization in the cervical cancer biopsies was compared with seroreactivity: 4 of 8 serum samples obtained from HPV-18 DNA-positive but 0 of 16 serum samples from HPV-18 DNA-negative tumor patients reacted in the HPV-18 E7 ELISA. In addition, HPV-18-positive sera failed to react in a peptide ELISA with the homologous HPV-16 E7 region (M. Müller, H. Gausepohl, G. de Martinoff, R. Frank, R. Brasseur, and L. Gissmann, J. Gen. Virol. 71:2709-2717, 1990) and vice versa.
authors.affiliation: Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bleul
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Frank
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gausepohl
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Koldovsky
authors.forename: H N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Mgaya
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luande
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pawlita
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: ter Meulen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Viscidi
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D015342:DNA Probes; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D000939:Epitopes / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D015723:Gene Library; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009856:Oncogene Proteins, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D016366:Open Reading Frames / Q000235:genetics; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000276:immunology*; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D015342:DNA Probes; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C052603:E6 protein, Human papillomavirus type 18; C052633:E7 protein, Human papillomavirus type 18; D000939:Epitopes; D009856:Oncogene Proteins, Viral