Mechanistic insights into HPV-positivity in non-smokers and HPV-negativity in smokers with head and neck cancer.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Several aspects of the involvement of HPV in the pathogenesis of HPV-associated diseases remain poorly understood including mechanistic aspects of infection and the question of why the majority of HPV-positive HNSCC-patients are non-smokers, whereas HPV-negatives are smokers. Our previous research, based on 1,100 patient samples, hypothesized an explanation for this phenomenon: Smoking induces upregulation of a mucosal protective protein (SLPI), which competes with HPV for binding to Annexin A2 (AnxA2), pivotal for HPV cell entry. Here we investigate the mechanistic aspects of our hypothesis using transfection assays.

Methods

HaCaT and HeLa cell lines were used to investigate the effects of shRNA transfection and nicotine exposure on HPV16-PsV-uptake. Cells were

SUBMITTER: Hoffmann M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11754403 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature