title: Human papillomavirus 8-L1 immune serum: a new diagnostic possibility for Epidermodysplasia verruciformis-specific HPVs.
abstract: Human papillomavirus (HPV) 8 induces flat macular skin lesions with a high risk of malignant conversion. A 600-bp fragment from the center of the major structural protein gene L1 was cloned into pEX2 to produce a beta-galactosidase-L1 fusion protein. The expressed part of L1 is masked in intact virions and not detected by sera of infected patients. Immunization of guinea pigs with purified fusion protein raised high-titer antisera, which reacted with capsid proteins of HPV8 and closely related viruses in Western blot and indirect immunofluorescence tests. Structural proteins of HPV1, 2, and 3 were not detected, indicating specificity for the subgroup of ev-specific HPVs. The sera present themselves as convenient diagnostic reagents for the demonstration of infections with potentially oncogenic HPVs using routine immunofluorescence procedures.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Klinische und Molekulare Virologie, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Federal Republic of Germany.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Steger
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jarzabek-Chorzelska
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jablonska
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pfister
mesh_terms: D000918:Antibody Specificity; D001706:Biopsy; D004819:Epidermodysplasia Verruciformis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000276:immunology*; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000276:immunology*; D014760:Viral Fusion Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis
chemical_list: D007106:Immune Sera; D014760:Viral Fusion Proteins