Lack of molecular mimicry between HPV vaccine L1 antigen and human proteins by a computational analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Although human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines effectively prevent cervical cancer, the HPV vaccination rates in Japan remain low because of concerns about alleged neurological adverse events. Darja Kanduc proposed a flawed hypothesis that molecular mimicry between HPV and human proteins could induce cross-reactive antibodies, causing autoimmune organ damage, even when only the portions of amino acid (AA)-sequences of the epitopes were identical between HPV and human proteins.

Methods

In this study, we conducted the same computational data analysis as Kanduc, using 22 linear epitopes (9-23 AA-length) of the HPV type 16 L1 protein (HPV16L1) registered in the database.

Results

We found that no human epitopes had identical AA-sequences to any HPV16L1 epitopes, d

SUBMITTER: Nishioka K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12932383 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature