title: Prevalence of HPV16 E1-1374^63nt variants in Greek women.
abstract: Recent studies have focused on sequence variation of the HPV16 E1 gene. The present study investigates the prevalence of E1-1374^63nt duplication in the Greek population, and the sequence variation at the 5' end of the E1 and E6 genes from samples that harbored this genetic alteration. Fifty HPV16 positive cervical samples, derived from Greek patients were investigated. The 5' end of the E1 gene was amplified through PCR and the variant amplicons were cloned, sequenced, and bioinformatically analyzed for selective pressure. The E1-1374^63nt duplication was identified in 24% of the examined samples, with the same prevalence in both high and low-grade cervical malignancies. The E1-1374^63nt duplication was linked to the European variant lineage (x²  = 5.076, P < 0.024) and it was significantly associated with the nucleotide variation A1053C (x²  = 23.102, P < 0.0001). Molecular evolution analyses anticipate that the E1-1374^63nt duplication induces functional constraints on the 5' end of E1 gene, and it is proposed that this duplication might not affect negatively the function or structure of the E1 protein. The E1-1374^63nt duplication is prevalent in the Greek population, whereas the A1053C variation might constitute a significant marker for the characterization of the E1-1374^63nt variant in the Greek population, thus providing significant information about viral pathogenicity.
authors: Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology, Microbiology-Virology Laboratory, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Tsakogiannis
authors: Z
authors: Z
authors: Kyriakopoulou
authors: F
authors: F
authors: Darmis
authors: I G A
authors: IG
authors: Ruether
authors: T G
authors: TG
authors: Dimitriou
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Orfanoudakis
authors: E
authors: E
authors: Panotopoulou
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Markoulatos
mesh_terms: D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D052162:Human papillomavirus 16 / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D009856:Oncogene Proteins, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; C093478:E1 protein, Human papillomavirus 16; D009856:Oncogene Proteins, Viral
keywords: A1053C variation; E1 gene; E1-1374^63nt duplication; HPV16; T350G variation; natural selection