title: Divergent human papillomavirus type 16 variants are serologically cross-reactive.
abstract: It is not known whether DNA sequence variants of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) are distinct serotypes. To examine this question, the reactivities of women's sera from Zaire (n = 97) and Denmark (n = 123) were compared in IgG-specific ELISAs based on virus-like particles (VLPs) composed of the L1 major capsid protein derived from an HPV-16 variant common in central Africa (Z-1194) or one common in northern Europe (114K). These L1s differ in seven amino acids. There was a strong correlation between reactivity in the two assays for both sets of sera (correlation coefficients, 0.73 and 0.85 for Zairian and Danish sera, respectively). In only 1 serum was there evidence for a specific reaction to one but not the other VLP variant. The results support the conclusion that the virions of strains Z-1194 and 114K are serologically cross-reactive.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cellular Oncology, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Icenogle
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kirnbauer
authors.forename: N L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Hubbert
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: St Louis
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: E I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Svare
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kjaer
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Lowy
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Schiller
mesh_terms: D003429:Cross Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology*; D014771:Virion / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D007074:Immunoglobulin G