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Sequence variation analysis of the E2 gene of human papilloma virus type 16 in cervical lesions from women in Greece

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Abstract

The E2 gene of human papilloma virus is expressed at the early stage of the viral life cycle, encoding the E2 transcription factor, and regulates the expression of E6 and E7 oncogenes. Disruption of E2 gene due to viral integration inhibits the transcriptional suppression of the HPV oncogenes, inducing cell proliferation. In the present study, a total of 22 HPV16-positive cytological specimens derived from high- and low-grade cervical intraepithelial lesions were investigated in order to identify sequence variations in the HPV16 E2 ORF. The E2 gene was amplified by PCR using external and internal overlapping sets of primers. Amplicons were cloned and sequenced. Disruption sites were detected in cervical samples diagnosed as high-grade cervical intraepithelial lesions. Moreover, sequence variations were identified in the E2 ORF and specific variations were associated with non-European variants such as African type I, African type II and Asian American. A total of three new sequence variations were identified at positions 2791, 2823 (transactivation domain) and 3361 (hinge region). Distinct phylogenetic branches were formed according to E2 analysis that characterized the different HPV16 variants. It was ascertained that non-European variants are circulating in the Greek population.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by research grants of the Postgraduate Programme ‘Applications of Molecular Biology-Genetics. Diagnostic Biomarkers’, code 3817, of the University of Thessaly, School of Health Sciences, Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology.

Conflict of interest

All authors declare that they have no conflicting or dual interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Microbiology-Virology Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, Ploutonos 26 and Aiolou, 41221, Larissa, Greece

    D. Tsakogiannis, I. G. A. Ruether, Z. Kyriakopoulou, V. Pliaka, A. Theoharopoulou, V. Skordas & P. Markoulatos

  2. Papanicolaou Research Centre of Oncology and Experimental Surgery, Virology Laboratory, Anticancer Oncology Hospital of Athens “St Savvas”, Athens, Greece

    E. Panotopoulou

  3. Cytopathology Laboratory, University Hospital of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece

    C. Nepka

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  1. D. Tsakogiannis
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Correspondence to P. Markoulatos.

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Tsakogiannis, D., Ruether, I.G.A., Kyriakopoulou, Z. et al. Sequence variation analysis of the E2 gene of human papilloma virus type 16 in cervical lesions from women in Greece. Arch Virol 157, 825–832 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-012-1236-8

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