Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a small double-stranded circular DNA virus with a genome of approximately 8000 base pairs, belonging to the papillomavirus family. It is transmitted by skin-to-skin or mucosa-to-mucosa contact and enters the host body via cutaneous or mucosal trauma. HPV infection is the most common sexually transmitted disease, although it is usually cured by the immune system. HPV infection results in common and anogenital warts, as well as other non-dermatological diseases. The role of HPV in cancer development has been extensively studied, primarily in cervical cancer, but also in other types of neoplasms. Nowadays, Creative Biolabs offers anti-HPV antibodies and customized antibody services for supporting HPV researches.
Types of Human Papillomavirus
The main burden of HPV-related disease is the cervical cancer. There is international consensus that "high-risk" genotypes, including genotypes 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59 and 66, can cause cervical cancer and are associated with other mucosal anogenital and head and neck cancers. The rest of HPV-related diseases, termed "low-risk," can cause benign or low- grade cervical tissue changes and genital warts (condyloma acuminata), which are growths on the cervix, vagina, vulva and anus in women and the penis, scrotum or anus in men.
Proteins of Human Papillomavirus
HPVs contain a circular double-stranded DNA genome of approximately 8 kb. For example, HPV16 (Fig. 1) contains three major regions:
(1) An upstream regulatory region (URR);
(2) An early region (E), encoding for six genes involved in multiple functions including viral replication and cell transformation;
(3) A late region (L), encoding for the L1 and L2 capsid proteins.
Fig.1 Schematic representation of PV dsDNA genome. (Bravo, 2015)
Functions of proteins are listed in below:
| URR | Harbours transcription factor-binding sites; Controls gene expression |
| Nonstructural proteins | |
| E1 | Adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) and DNA helicase; necessary for viral DNA replication. |
| E2 | Main regulator of viral gene transcription; binds the viral transcriptional promoter as a dimer; involved in viral DNA replication; interacts with and recruits E1 to the origin. |
| E4 | Reacts late in the viral life cycle; interacts with the keratin cytoskeleton and intermediate filaments; localizes to nuclear domain 10; induces G2 arrest |
| E5 | Induces unscheduled cell proliferation; interacts with 16k subunit c of vacuolar ATPase; inhibits apoptosis; inhibits traffic of major histocompatibility complexes to the cell surface. |
| E6 | Induces DNA synthesis; induces telomerase; prevents cell differentiation; interacts with four classes of cellular proteins: transcriptional co-activators, proteins involved in cell polarity and motility, tumour suppressors and inducers of apoptosis, primarily p53, and DNA replication and repair factors. |
| E7 | Induces unscheduled cell proliferation; interacts with histone acetyl transferases; interacts with negative regulators of the cell cycle and tumour suppressors, primarily p105Rb. |
| Structural Proteins | |
| L1 | Major viral structural protein; interacts with L2; encodes neutralizing epitopes. |
| L2 | Minor viral structural protein; interacts with DNA; encodes linear virus neutralizing epitopes. |
Table 1. Functions of Proteins
Anti-HPV Antibodies in Creative Biolabs
Creative Biolabs offers anti-HPV antibodies for multiple applications, many species, and in both conjugated and unconjugated forms. Each Antibody indicates the applications for which it has been tested. For the above protein targets, ready-to-use catalogue and customized development services, such as ViroAntibody discovery, ViroAntibody engineering, ViroAntibody customized and ViroAntibody neutralization assays, are available. Our high-affinity antibodies will contribute greatly to the success of your projects. A full comprehensive suite of primary antibodies, secondary antibodies and isotype controls are supplied to meet your needs. If you are interested in our products or services, please contact us for more information.
Reference
- Bravo, I. G.; Félez-Sánchez, M. PapillomavirusesViral evolution, cancer and evolutionary medicine. Evolution, medicine, and public health. 2015(1): 32-51.
