Structural and transcriptional analysis of human papillomavirus type 16 sequences in cervical carcinoma cell lines

Abstract

We cloned and analyzed the integrated human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) genomes that are present in the human cervical carcinoma cell lines SiHa and CaSki. The single HPV-16 genome in the SiHa line was cloned as a 10-kilobase (kb) HindIII fragment. Integration of the HPV-16 genome occurred at bases 3132 and 3384 with disruption of the E2 and E4 open reading frames (ORFs). An additional 52-base-pair deletion of HPV-16 sequences fused the E2 and E4 ORFs. the 5' portion of the disrupted E2 ORF terminated immediately in the contiguous human right-flanking sequences. Heteroduplex analysis of this cloned integrated viral genome with the prototype HPV-16 DNA revealed no other deletions, insertions, or rearrangements. DNA sequence analysis of the E1 ORF, however, revealed the presence of an additional guanine at nucleotide 1138, resulting in the fusion of the E1a and E1b ORFs into a single E1 ORF. Sequence analysis of the human flanking sequences revealed one-half of an Alu sequence at the left junction and a sequence highly homologous to the human O repeat in the right-flanking region. Analysis of the three most abundant BamHI clones from the CaSki line showed that these consisted of full-length, 7.9-kb HPV-16 DNA; a 6.5-kb genome resulting from a 1.4-kb deletion of the long control region; and a 10.5-kb clone generated by a 2.6-kb tandem repeat of the 3' early region. These HPV-16 genomes were arranged in the host chromosomes as head-to-tail, tandemly repeated arrays. Transcription analysis revealed expression of the HPV-16 genome in each of these two cervical carcinoma cell lines, albeit at significantly different levels. Preliminary mapping of the viral RNA with subgenomic strand-specific probes indicated that viral transcription appeared to be derived primarily from the E6 and E7 ORFs.