title: Antibodies to human papillomavirus type-16 in human sera as revealed by the use of prokaryotically expressed viral gene products.
abstract: Open reading frames of human papillomaviruses were expressed in Escherichia coli as beta-galactosidase fusion proteins. These bacterially derived papillomaviral gene products were used to examine sera from 67 women (63 healthy subjects, 4 patients with genital carcinoma) for antibodies to papillomavirus type-16 antigens (E1, E2, E4, E5, E6, E7, L1, L2) and the L2 proteins of HPV-6b and HPV-18 by Western-blot analysis. The serologic data were compared with cytological findings classified according to Papanicolaou and with nucleic acid hybridization data from cervical smears of the same individuals. Twenty-three of the normal individuals showed antibodies exclusively directed against L2 gene products; whereas in the sera from the four genital cancer patients, antibodies to the early gene products E4 and/or E7 could be detected. In one case these antibodies were found to be combined with antibodies to L2 of HPV-16 and -18 and in another case with those to E1 and E2 of HPV-16. In none of the sera examined could antibodies to L1, E5 or E6 be identified. Three of the antibody positive normal women were found to be also positive for HPV-16/18 DNA, while all of the 40 seronegative women were HPV-16/18 DNA negative. These data indicate that serology may be a valuable means to study the epidemiology of genital human papillomavirus infection.
authors.affiliation: Centre of Hygiene and Human Genetics of the University, Department of Medical Microbiology, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Köchel
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sievert
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Monazahian
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mittelstädt-Deterding
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Teichmann
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thomssen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology*; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D002213:Capsid / Q000276:immunology; D004926:Escherichia coli; D005260:Female; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000276:immunology*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012698:Serologic Tests; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis; D002577:Uterine Cervical Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins