From the humble wart to HPV: a fascinating story throughout centuries

Why HPV16? Why, now, HPV42? How the discovery of HPV42 in rare cancers provides an opportunity to challenge our understanding about the transition between health and disease for common members of the healthy microbiota

In 2022, a bioinformatic, agnostic approach identified HPV42 as causative agent of a rare cancer, later confirmed experimentally. This unexpected association offers an opportunity to reconsider our understanding about papillomavirus infections and cancers. We have expanded our knowledge about the diversity of papillomaviruses and the diseases they cause. Yet, we still lack answers to fundamental questions, such as what makes HPV16 different from the closely related HPV31 or HPV33; or why the very divergent HPV13 and HPV32 cause focal epithelial hyperplasia, while HPV6 or HPV42 do not, despite their evolutionary relatedness. Certain members of the healthy skin microbiota are associated to rare clinical conditions. We propose that a focus on cellular phenotypes, most often transient and influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic factors, may help understand the continuum between health and disease. A conceptual switch is required towards an interpretation of biology as a diversity of states connected by transition probabilities, rather than quasi-deterministic programs. Under this perspective, papillomaviruses may only trigger malignant transformation when specific viral genotypes interact with precise cellular states. Drawing on Canguilhem's concepts of normal and pathological, we suggest that understanding the transition between fluid cellular states can illuminate how commensal-like infections transition from benign to malignant.

The potential use of therapeutics and prophylactic mRNA vaccines in human papillomavirus (HPV)

Cervical cancer (CC) and other malignant malignancies are acknowledged to be primarily caused by persistent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Historically, vaccinations against viruses that produce neutralizing antibodies unique to the virus have been an affordable way to manage viral diseases. CC risk is decreased, but not eliminated, by HPV vaccinations. Since vaccinations have been made available globally, almost 90% of HPV infections have been successfully avoided. On the lesions and diseases that are already present, however, no discernible treatment benefit has been shown. As a result, therapeutic vaccines that elicit immune responses mediated by cells are necessary for the treatment of established infections and cancers. mRNA vaccines possess remarkable potential in combating viral diseases and malignancy as a result of their superior industrial production, safety, and efficacy. Furthermore, considering the expeditiousness of production, the mRNA vaccine exhibits promise as a therapeutic approach targeting HPV. Given that the HPV-encoded early proteins, including oncoproteins E6 and E7, are consistently present in HPV-related cancers and pre-cancerous lesions and have crucial functions in the progression and persistence of HPV-related diseases, they serve as ideal targets for therapeutic HPV vaccines. The action mechanism of HPV and HPV-related cancer mRNA vaccines, their recent advancements in clinical trials, and the potential for their therapeutic applications are highlighted in this study, which also offers a quick summary of the present state of mRNA vaccines. Lastly, we highlight a few difficulties with mRNA HPV vaccination clinical practice and provide our thoughts on further advancements in this quickly changing sector. It is expected that mRNA vaccines will soon be produced quickly for clinical HPV prevention and treatment.

Papillomaviral skin diseases of humans, dogs, cats and horses: A comparative review. Part 1: Papillomavirus biology and hyperplastic lesions

Papillomaviruses (PVs) cause disease in humans, dogs, cats, and horses. While there are some differences, many aspects of the pathogenesis, presentation, and treatment of these diseases are similar between the four species. In this review, the PV-induced diseases of humans are compared to the similar diseases that develop in the companion animal species. By comparing with the human diseases, it is possible to make assumptions about some of the less common and less well-studied diseases in the veterinary species. In the first part of this review, the PV lifecycle is discussed along with the classification of PVs and the immune response to PV infection. The hyperplastic diseases caused by PVs are then discussed; including PV-induced cutaneous, anogenital, and oral warts within the four species.

Human papillomaviruses: diversity, infection and host interactions

Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are an ancient and highly successful group of viruses that have co-evolved with their host to replicate in specific anatomical niches of the stratified epithelia. They replicate persistently in dividing cells, hijack key host cellular processes to manipulate the cellular environment and escape immune detection, and produce virions in terminally differentiated cells that are shed from the host. Some HPVs cause benign, proliferative lesions on the skin and mucosa, and others are associated with the development of cancer. However, most HPVs cause infections that are asymptomatic and inapparent unless the immune system becomes compromised. To date, the genomes of almost 450 distinct HPV types have been isolated and sequenced. In this Review, I explore the diversity, evolution, infectious cycle, host interactions and disease association of HPVs.

The oncogenic pathways of papillomaviruses

Papillomaviruses are oncogenic DNA viruses and induce hyperplastic benign lesions of both cutaneous and mucosal tissues in their various hosts, including many domestic and wild animals as well as humans. There are some Papillomavirus genotypes that can infect hosts different from their own, such as BPV 1 and BPV 2 originated from cattle, which can also infect horses and are responsible for fibroblastic tumours in horses. This review article summarizes the origin and evolution of papillomaviruses as an etiological agent in the historical process. The main focus in this review is the evaluation of the interactions between high-risk papillomavirus oncoproteins and programmed cell-death pathways. It further exemplifies the role of these interactions in the malignant cell transformation process. In parallel with this, the use and importance of the bovine model system to enlighten the papillomavirus-associated cancers is discussed with an in-depth examination. Furthermore, it focuses on the epidemiological situation of BPV infections in Turkey in the cattle herds.

Viral Causes of Lymphoma: The History of Epstein-Barr Virus and Human T-Lymphotropic Virus 1

In 1964, Epstein, Barr, and Achong published a report outlining their discovery of viral particles in lymphoblasts isolated from a patient with Burkitt lymphoma. The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was the first human cancer virus to be described, and its discovery paved the way for further investigations into the oncogenic potential of viruses. In the decades following the discovery of EBV, multinational research efforts led to the discovery of further viral causes of various human cancers. Lymphomas are perhaps the cancer type that is most closely associated with oncogenic viruses: infection with EBV, human T-lymphotropic virus 1 (HTLV-1), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus/human herpesvirus 8, and hepatitis C virus have all been associated with lymphomagenesis. Lymphomas have also played an important role in the history of oncoviruses, as both the first human oncovirus (EBV) and the first human retrovirus (HTLV-1) were discovered through isolates taken from patients with unique lymphoma syndromes. The history of the discovery of these 2 key oncoviruses is presented here, and their impact on further medical research, using the specific example of HIV research, is briefly discussed.