The Major E6/E7 Transcript of HPV-16 in Exfoliated Cells from Cervical Neoplasia Patients

• Published in: Gynecologic oncology 1995-08, Vol.58 (2), p.210-215
• Main Authors: Fujii, Takuma, Tsukazaki, Katsumi, Kiguchi, Kazushige, Kubushiro, Kaneyuki, Yajima, Masazumi, Nozawa, Shiro
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia - pathology; Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia - virology; Female; Female genital diseases; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Humans; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Molecular Sequence Data; Oncogene Proteins, Viral - biosynthesis; Papanicolaou Test; Papillomaviridae - genetics; Papillomavirus E7 Proteins; Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; Repressor Proteins; RNA, Messenger - genetics; RNA, Viral - genetics; Sensitivity and Specificity; Transcription, Genetic; Tumor Cells, Cultured - metabolism; Tumors; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - pathology; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - virology; Vagina - cytology; Vagina - virology; Vaginal Smears
• ISSN: 0090-8258; 1095-6859
• DOI: 10.1006/gyno.1995.1213

HPV-16 is implicated in the development of progressive cervical neoplasia, and E6 and E7 proteins of this virus play important roles in its oncogenic activity. Reverse transcriptase-nested-polymerase chain reaction (RT-nested PCR) method was applied to detect the major transcript (E6*I/E7) from E6/E7 ORFs of HPV-16 in the exfoliated cervical and vaginal cells from cervical neoplasia patients. The incidence of the E6*I/E7 transcript was proportional to the class of cytologic diagnosis. Further analysis revealed that the incidence of the E6*I/E7 transcript in Pap smears of class I or II was 5/28 (18%) patients who had previously been diagnosed as having cervical neoplasia but was 1/37 (3%) patients who had never been diagnosed ( P < 0.05). These findings suggest that some patients followed up for cervical neoplasia were infected with transcriptionally active HPVs even when their Pap smears were negative. In addition, the E6*I/E7 transcript could not be detected after surgical treatment in any of the cases that were able to be followed up. The E6*I/E7 transcript in the exfoliated cells may prove valuable for epidemiological studies of the pathogenesis of HPV infection.