Human Papillomavirus type 16 E2- and L1-specific serological and T-cell responses in women with vulval intraepithelial neoplasia.

EJ Davidson, P Sehr, RL Faulkner, Joanna Louise Parish, K Gaston, RA Moore, M Pawlita, HC Kitchener, PL Stern

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16)-associated vulval intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN) is frequently a chronic, multifocal high-grade condition with an appreciable risk of progression to vulval cancer. The requirement to treat women with VIN has recently stimulated the use of immunotherapy with E6/E7 oncogene vaccines. Animal models have shown that E2 may also be a useful vaccine target for HPV-associated disease; however, little is known about E2 immunity in humans. This study investigated the prevalence of HPV-16 E2-specific serological and T-cell responses in 18 women with HPV-16-associated VIN and 17 healthy volunteers. E2 responses were determined by full-length E2-GST ELISA with ELISPOT and proliferation assays using E2 C-terminal protein. As positive controls, HPV-16 L1 responses were measured using virus-like particles (VLPs) and L1-GST ELISA with ELISPOT and proliferation using VLPs as antigen. The VIN patients all showed a strong serological response to L1 compared with the healthy volunteers by VLP (15/18 vs 1/17, P<0.001) and L1-GST ELISA (18/18 vs 1/17, P<0.001). In contrast, L1-specific cellular immune responses were detected in a significant proportion of controls but were more prevalent in the VIN patients by proliferation assay (9/17 vs 17/18, P<0.02) and interferon-gamma ELISPOT (9/17 vs 13/18, P = not significant). Similar and low numbers of patients and controls were seropositive for E2-specific Ig (2/18 vs 1/17). In spite of previous studies showing the immunogenicity of E2 in eliciting primary T-cell responses in vitro, there was a low prevalence of E2 responses in the VIN patients and controls (2/18 vs 0/17).

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2089-2097
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of General Virology
Volume84
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2003

Keywords

  • VIRUS-LIKE PARTICLES
  • GLUTATHIONE-S-TRANSFERASE
  • SERUM ANTIBODY-RESPONSES
  • CERVICAL-CANCER
  • NATURAL-HISTORY
  • DENDRITIC CELLS/
  • HELPER IMMUNITY
  • E2 PROTEIN
  • PHASE-I
  • LESIONS

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Human Papillomavirus type 16 E2- and L1-specific serological and T-cell responses in women with vulval intraepithelial neoplasia.'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this