Variation of human papillomavirus 16 in cervical and lung cancers in Sichuan, China

Prevalence and distribution of human papillomavirus (HPV) in Luoyang city of Henan province during 2015-2021 and the genetic variability of HPV16 and 52

Background

Persistent high-risk Human papillomavirus (HPV) subtypes infection has been implicated as a causative of cervical cancer. Distribution and genotypes of HPV infection among females and their variations would assist in the formulation of preventive strategy for cervical cancer. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the prevalence of HPV among females in central China.

Methods

The distribution and genotypes of HPV among 9943 females attending the gynecological examinations in central of China during 2015–2021 were investigated. HPV genotypes were detected using a commercial kit. Nucleotides sequences of L1, E6 and E7 genes in HPV16 or HPV52 positive samples collected in 2021 were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Variations of L1, E6 and E7 in HPV16 and HPV52 were gained by sequencing and compared with the reference sequence. Sublineages of HPV16 and HPV52 were determined by the construction of phylogenetic tree based on L1 gene.

Results

The overall prevalence of HPV infection was 22.81%, with the infection rate of high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) was 19.02% and low-risk human papillomavirus (LR-HPV) was 6.40%. The most top five genotypes of HPV infection were HPV16 (7.49%), HPV52 (3.04%), HPV58 (2.36%), HPV18 (1.65%) and HPV51 (1.61%). Plots of the age-infection rate showed that the single HPV, multiple HPV, HR-HPV, LR-HPV infection revealed the same tendency with two peaks of HPV infection were observed among females aged ≤ 20 year-old and 60–65 year-old. The predominant sublineage of HPV16 was A1 and B2 for HPV52. For HPV16, The most prevalent mutations were T266A (27/27) and N181T (7/27) for L1, D32E for E6 and S63F for E7 in HPV16. For HPV52, all of the nucleotide changes were synonymous mutation in L1 (except L5S) and E7 genes. The K93R mutation was observed in most HPV52 E6 protein.

Conclusions

The present study provides basic information about the distribution, genotypes and variations of HPV among females population in Henan province, which would assist in the formulation of preventive strategies and improvements of diagnostic probe and vaccine for HPV in this region.

HPV and lung cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Lung cancer has emerged as a global public health problem and is the most common cause of cancer deaths by absolute cases globally. Besides tobacco, smoke infectious diseases such as human papillomavirus (HPV) might be involved in the pathogenesis of lung cancer. However, data are inconsistent due to differences in study design and HPV detection methods.

AIM

A systematic meta-analysis was performed to examine the presence of HPV-infection with lung cancer.

METHODS AND RESULTS

All studies in all languages were considered for the search concepts "lung cancer" and "HPV" if data specific to HPV prevalence in lung cancer tissue were given. This included Journal articles as well as abstracts and conference reports. As detection method, only HPV PCR results from fresh frozen and paraffin-embedded tissue were included. Five bibliographic databases and three registers of clinical trials including MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched through February 2020. A total 4298 publications were identified, and 78 publications were selected, resulting in 9385 included lung cancer patients. A meta-analysis of 15 case-control studies with n = 2504 patients showed a weighted overall prevalence difference of 22% (95% CI: 12%-33%; P < .001) and a weighted overall 4.7-fold (95% CI: 2.7-8.4; P < .001) increase of HPV prevalence in lung cancer patients compared to controls. Overall, HPV prevalence amounted to 13.5% being highest in Asia (16.6%), followed by America (12.8%), and Europe (7.0%). A higher HPV prevalence was found in squamous cell carcinoma (17.9%) compared to adenocarcinoma (P < .01) with significant differences in geographic patterns. HPV genotypes 16 and 18 were the most prevalent high-risk genotypes identified.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, our review provides convincing evidence that HPV infection increases the risk of developing lung cancer.

Prevalence of human papillomavirus in archival head and neck cancer in the eastern Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, China

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in archival head and neck cancer (HNC) collected from the Tong-Liao area, which is located in east Inner Mongolia, China.

METHODS

The presence of HPV in 54 HNCs and 25 benign biopsies was detected and the sequence variation of the E6 gene in HPV-positive samples was analyzed to determine their lineage/sublineage classification.

RESULTS

HPV was detected in only 4 out of 54 HNCs and no benign biopsies were found to be HPV-positive. After further p16^INK4a immunostaining, only 3 cases of HNC were positive for both HPV and p16^INK4a. Phylogenetic analysis of the isolated E6 gene shows that the HPV 16, HPV 31, and HPV 58 isolated in this study belong to lineage A.

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of HPV in HNC from this area is very low. The lineage/sublineage classification of the 3 HPV types in HNC in this area is consistent with the previous reported data of HPV lineage distribution in cervical cancer within China.

Long-term persistent infection of HPV 16 E6 up-regulate SP1 and hTERT by inhibiting LKB1 in lung cancer cells

HPV 16 E6 upregulates hTERT expression in lung cancer cells. However, the underlying molecular mechanism is unclear. In this paper, E6, LKB1, SP1, and hTERT mRNA expression levels were detected in brushing cells of patients with lung cancer (n = 106) and with benign lung disease (n = 68) by qRT-PCR. The mRNA expression levels of E6, SP1, and hTERT were significantly increased in the malignant group compared with the benign group (P < 0.01). Conversely, the mRNA expression level of LKB1 was significantly decreased in the malignant group (P < 0.01). Furthermore, the correlation between E6, Sp1, hTERT, and LKB1 was performed, our results indicated that E6, Sp1, and hTERT with positive, but LKB1 with negative correlation (P < 0.01). To investigate the potential relationship between these genes, using double directional genetic manipulation, we showed that overexpression of E6 in H1299 cells down-regulated LKB1 mRNA and protein expression but up-regulated SP1 and hTERT as well as the transcriptional activity of Sp1. In contrast, knockdown of E6 in A549 cells by short-interference RNAs (siRNAs) up-regulated LKB1 expression, but down-regulated SP1 and hTERT expression as well as Sp1 activity. LKB1 loss upregulated both SP1 and hTERT at the protein and mRNA level as well as SP1 activity. To verify that the role of E6 on hTERT was mediated by SP1, siRNA knockdown of SP1 was performed on both H1299 and A549 cell lines. Inhibition of SP1 downregulated hTERT expression. Our results indicate that HPV16 E6 indirectly upregulated the expression of hTERT by inhibition of LBK1 expression and upregulation of Sp1 expression, thus suggesting a HPV-LKB1-SP1-hTERT axis for the tumorigenesis of lung cancer. Our study also provides new evidence to support the critical role of SP1 and LKB1 in the pathogenesis of HPV-related lung cancer, and suggests novel therapeutic targets.

HPV16 E6/E7 upregulates HIF-2α and VEGF by inhibiting LKB1 in lung cancer cells

Long-term persistent infection of HPV16 E6/E7 is frequently associated with lung cancers, especially in non-smokers and in Asians. However, molecular mechanisms of HPV16 E6/E7 induction of lung cancer are not fully understood. Using bi-directional genetic manipulation and four well-established lung cancer cell lines, we showed HPV16 E6/E7 downregulated expression of liver kinase B1 at both protein and messenger RNA levels; liver kinase B1 downregulated hypoxia-inducible factor 2α at protein level but not at messenger RNA level, and hypoxia-inducible factor 2α upregulated vascular endothelial growth factor at both protein and messenger RNA levels. This is the first study to show hypoxia-inducible factor 2α as a downstream effector of liver kinase B1 in lung cancer cells. Our results indicate that HPV16 E6/E7 indirectly upregulated the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor by inhibition of liver kinase B1 expression and upregulation of hypoxia-inducible factor 2α expression, thus propose a human papillomavirus-liver kinase B1-hypoxia-inducible factor 2α-vascular endothelial growth factor axis for the tumorigenesis of lung cancer. Our study also provides new evidence to support the critical role of liver kinase B1 in the pathogenesis of human papillomavirus-related lung cancer and suggests novel therapeutic targets.

Overexpression of HPV16 E6/E7 mediated HIF-1α upregulation of GLUT1 expression in lung cancer cells

High-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection may play an important role in non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) development. However, some recent studies have proved that it was not directly associated with lung cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the underlying molecular mechanism that HPV16 regulate the expression of GLUT1 and may promote the development of lung cancer. HPV16, HIF-1α, and GLUT1 were detected in pleural effusions of patients with lung cancer (n = 95) and with benign lung disease (n = 55) by immunocytochemistry. Western blotting and qRT-PCR were used to detect the expression chances of HPV16 E6/E7, HIF-1α, and GLUT1 in lung cancer cells. HPV16, HIF-1α, and GLUT1 were significantly more likely to be expressed in the malignant group than in the benign group as detected by immunocytochemistry (ICC), and HIF-1α was significantly correlated with HPV16 or GLUT1 in the malignant group (P < 0.01). Expression changes of E6 and E7 significantly promoted the protein expression of HIF-1α, the expression of both protein and mRNA of GLUT1, but had no effect on the expression of HIF-1α mRNA in lung cancer cells. After inhibition of HIF-1α, it obviously downregulated the expression of both protein and mRNA of GLUT1 in lung cancer cells. E6 and E7 regulated the expression of GLUT1 may be due to the mediation of HIF-1α in lung cancer cells. These results suggest that both E6 and E7 play the important role in the regulation of Warburg effect and may be a valuable therapeutic target for HPV-related cancer.

Roles of PI3K/Akt and c-Jun signaling pathways in human papillomavirus type 16 oncoprotein-induced HIF-1α, VEGF, and IL-8 expression and in vitro angiogenesis in non-small cell lung cancer cells

Background and Objectives

Human papillomavirus (HPV)-16 infection may be related to non-smoking associated lung cancer. Our previous studies have found that HPV-16 oncoproteins promoted angiogenesis via enhancing hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and interleukin-8 (IL-8) expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. In this study, we further investigated the roles of PI3K/Akt and c-Jun signaling pathways in it.

Methods

Human NSCLC cell lines, A549 and NCI-H460, were stably transfected with pEGFP-16 E6 or E7 plasmids. Western blotting was performed to analyze the expression of HIF-1α, p-Akt, p-P70S6K, p-P85S6K, p-mTOR, p-JNK, and p-c-Jun proteins. VEGF and IL-8 protein secretion and mRNA levels were determined by ELISA and Real-time PCR, respectively. The invitro angiogenesis was observed by human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) tube formation assay. Co-immunoprecipitation was performed to analyze the interaction between c-Jun and HIF-1α.

Results

HPV-16 E6 and E7 oncoproteins promoted the activation of Akt, P70S6K, P85S6K, mTOR, JNK, and c-Jun. LY294002, a PI3K inhibitor, inhibited HPV-16 oncoprotein-induced activation of Akt, P70S6K, and P85S6K, expression of HIF-1α, VEGF, and IL-8, and invitro angiogenesis. c-Jun knockdown by specific siRNA abolished HPV-16 oncoprotein-induced HIF-1α, VEGF, and IL-8 expression and invitro angiogenesis. Additionally, HPV-16 oncoproteins promoted HIF-1α protein stability via blocking proteasome degradation pathway, but c-Jun knockdown abrogated this effect. Furthermore, HPV-16 oncoproteins increased the quantity of c-Jun binding to HIF-1α.

Conclusions

PI3K/Akt signaling pathway and c-Jun are involved in HPV-16 oncoprotein-induced HIF-1α, VEGF, and IL-8 expression and invitro angiogenesis. Moreover, HPV-16 oncoproteins promoted HIF-1α protein stability possibly through enhancing the interaction between c-Jun and HIF-1α, thus making a contribution to angiogenesis in NSCLC cells.

The role of human papilloma virus (HPV) infection in non-anogenital cancer and the promise of immunotherapy: a review

Over the past 30 years, human papilloma virus (HPV) has been shown to play a role in the development of various cancers. Most notably, HPV has been linked to malignant progression in neoplasms of the anogenital region. However, high-risk HPV has also been suggested to play a significant role in the development of cancers in other anatomic locations, such as the head and neck, lung, breast and bladder. In 2006, the first vaccine for HPV, Gardasil, was approved for the prevention of subtypes 6, 11, 16 and 18. A few years later, Cevarix was approved for the prevention of subtypes 16 and 18, the HPV subtypes most frequently implicated in malignant progression. Although increased awareness and vaccination could drastically decrease the incidence of HPV-positive cancers, these approaches do not benefit patients who have already contracted HPV and developed cancer as a result. For this reason, researchers need to continue developing treatment modalities, such as targeted immunotherapies, for HPV-positive lesions. Here, we review the potential evidence linking HPV infection with the development of non-anogenital cancers and the potential role of immunotherapy in the prevention and eradication of HPV infection and its oncogenic sequela.

(-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate inhibits human papillomavirus (HPV)-16 oncoprotein-induced angiogenesis in non-small cell lung cancer cells by targeting HIF-1α

PURPOSE

To investigate the effects of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) on human papillomavirus (HPV)-16 oncoprotein-induced angiogenesis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells and the underlying mechanisms.

METHODS

NSCLC cells (A549 and NCI-H460) transfected with EGFP plasmids containing HPV-16 E6 or E7 oncogene were treated with different concentrations of EGCG for 16 h. The effects of EGCG on angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo were observed. The expression of HIF-1α, p-Akt, and p-ERK1/2 proteins in NSCLC cells was analyzed by Western blot. The levels of HIF-1α mRNA in NSCLC cells were detected by real-time RT-PCR. The concentration of VEGF and IL-8 in the conditioned media was determined by ELISA. HIF-1α, VEGF, and CD31 expression in A549 xenografted tumors of nude mice was analyzed by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS

HPV-16 E6 and E7 oncoproteins HIF-1α-dependently promoted angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo, which was inhibited by EGCG. Mechanistically, EGCG inhibited HPV-16 oncoprotein-induced HIF-1α protein expression but had no effect on HIF-1α mRNA expression in NSCLC cells. Additionally, 50 and 100 μmol/L of EGCG significantly reduced the secretion of VEGF and IL-8 proteins induced by HPV-16 E7 oncoprotein in NSCLC A549 cells. Meanwhile, HPV-16 E6 and E7 oncoproteins HIF-1α-dependently enhanced Akt activation in A549 cells, which was suppressed by EGCG. Furthermore, EGCG inhibited HPV-16 oncoprotein-induced HIF-1α and HIF-1α-dependent VEGF and CD31 expression in A549 xenografted tumors.

CONCLUSIONS

EGCG inhibited HPV-16 oncoprotein-induced angiogenesis conferred by NSCLC through the inhibition of HIF-1α protein expression and HIF-1α-dependent expression of VEGF, IL-8, and CD31 as well as activation of Akt, suggesting that HIF-1α may be a potential target of EGCG against HPV-related NSCLC angiogenesis.

Overexpression of human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 oncoproteins promotes angiogenesis via enhancing HIF-1α and VEGF expression in non-small cell lung cancer cells

HPV-16 infection may play an important role in the development of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) among never-smokers. Due to the critical role of angiogenesis in NSCLC development, we describe here the effect of HPV-16 oncoproteins on angiogenesis in NSCLC and the underlying mechanisms. We found that overexpression of HPV-16 E6 and E7 oncoproteins in NSCLC cells significantly promoted angiogenesis both in vitro and in vivo, and correspondingly, an enhanced expression of HIF-1α and VEGF, important pro-angiogenic factors in tumor angiogenesis. Meanwhile, overexpression of HPV-16 oncoproteins also led to HIF-1α-dependent increases in the secretion of several other pro-angiogenic factors, including IL-8. Our findings suggest that HPV-16 oncoproteins contribute to the development of NSCLC possibly by promoting HIF-1α/VEGF-mediated tumor angiogenesis.