Karen R. Zachow

The nucleotide sequence and genome organization of human papilloma virus type 11.

The complete nucleotide sequence of human papilloma virus type 11 (HPV11) DNA (7931 bp) was determined. HPV11 DNA which has been isolated from laryngeal papillomas and from genital warts (condylomata acuminata) shows a high degree of sequence homology to HPV6b (82%). The arrangement of open reading frames is very similar to HPV6b, the homology of the deduced amino acid sequences varies between 58 and 92%. Characteristic features of the noncoding region between the L1 and E6 open reading frames is an AT-rich domain of about 200 bp with extended stretches of alternating thymine-purine bases and a 12-bp inverted repeat element ACCG NNNN CGGT arranged in tandem upstream of the putative early promoter TATA box.

A survey of human cancers for human papillomavirus DNA by filter hybridization

We examined 217 tissue samples of various human malignancies for the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA using low‐stringency filter hybridization techniques. These techniques were sufficiently sensitive for crosshybridization of the HPV DNA probes to all the known types of papillomavirus DNAs, both human and animal. Approximately 2% of the cancers analyzed contained HPV DNA. These included carcinomas of the lung, cecum, tongue, and neck. Three of four cancers contained HPV‐16‐related nucleotide sequences. Thus, in addition to previous data demonstrating the association of HPV DNA with certain cancers of the skin and genital tract, data is presented that indicates that several additional human cancers also contain HPV‐related nucleotide sequences.

Isolation of replication-competent molecular clones of visna virus

Visna virus is the prototypic member of a subfamily of retroviruses responsible for slow infections of animals and humans. As a part of our investigation of the functions of viral gene products in virus replication, we have isolated three infectious molecular clones and determined the complete nucleotide sequences of two of the clones. We have also characterized the progeny of the biologically cloned viral stocks and of the infectious clones and document considerable heterogeneity in plaque size and antigenic phenotype of the former that is reduced to near homogeneity in the progeny of the infectious clones. It thus should now be possible to trace the emergence of antigenic variants of visna virus as well as ascribe defined functions to structural and regulatory genes of the virus in determining neurovirulence and the slow tempo of infection.

Identification of human papillomavirus DNA in cervical and vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia with molecularly cloned virus-specific DNA probes

Summary:The presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA was identified in the tissues of cervical and vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia by Southern blot DNA hybridization under conditions of low stringency. The specific types of HPV present in the tissues were identified by using molecularly cloned types 1 through 6 (HPV-1 through HPV-6) HPV DNA probes under high-stringency conditions. All tissues of cervical and vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia analyzed contained HPV genomes. Fifteen of 19 samples (79%) contained HPV-6 DNA, and 10 of 19 samples (53%) HPV-3 DNA. Hybridization with HPV-1, HPV-2, HPV-4, and HPV-5 DNAs was also observed in several of the samples. Four of the samples did not hybridize with any of the probes tested (HPV-1 through HPV-6); yet, all showed hybridization with an HPV-EV DNA (a type 3-related DNA) probe under low-stringency conditions, indicating the presence of HPV types other than those belonging to HPV-1 through HPV-6.

Molecular cloning and nucleotide sequence analysis of several naturally occurring HPV-5 deletion mutant genomes

Three deletion mutants of naturally occurring human papillomavirus type 5 (HPV-5) were molecularly cloned into phage vectors. The nature of these deletions was characterized initially by restriction endonuclease mapping and electron microscopic heteroduplex analysis and ultimately by nucleotide sequence analysis. The sizes of the deletions are 353, 1329, 1571, and 2267 bp and map to the late gene region of the HPV-5 genome. The 80 nucleotides immediately adjacent to the deletions exhibit no significant detectable sequence homologies or symmetries and therefore were probably not formed by the sequence-dependent events of homologous recombination or site-specific recombination.