The HPV 6 E6/E7 transforming genes are expressed in inverted papilloma.
A role for human papilloma virus (HPV) infection in the pathogenesis of head and neck neoplasms has gained support in recent years. Expression of two early-region HPV genes, E6 and E7, is widely accepted as essential for viral-induced carcinomas of the genital tract. These oncoproteins interact with the products of the cellular tumor suppressor genes, p53 and retinoblastoma, and inactivate them. Examining E6/E7 transforming gene expression is an important step toward elucidating the pathogenesis of HPV in head and neck neoplasms. We introduce nasal inverted papilloma (IP) as a novel system for evaluating viral genomic expression and transforming gene regulation of tumorigenesis by virtue of its association to HPV infection and potential for malignant progression. We describe here a reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction approach for the detection of HPV E6/E7-specific transcripts in RNA extracted from IR. A primer pair flanking previously mapped HPV 6 E6/E7 splice donor/acceptor sites was used to direct amplification of cDNA. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction experiments generated products representing the 1.2 Kb E1E4 splice transcript and a smaller unclassified fragment in IP from two patients. These results provide evidence for HPV 6 E6/E7 expression in IP with the potential to encode transforming proteins.
Harris
M O
MO
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor 48109-0312, USA.
Beck
J C
JC
Lancaster
W
W
Gregoire
L
L
Carey
T E
TE
Bradford
C R
CR
D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D009669:Nose Neoplasms / Q000821:virology*; D009856:Oncogene Proteins, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D018308:Papilloma, Inverted / Q000821:virology*; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D004279:DNA, Viral; D009856:Oncogene Proteins, Viral; D012333:RNA, Messenger