Novel recombinant papillomavirus genomes expressing selectable genes.

ABSTRACT: Papillomaviruses infect and replicate in keratinocytes, but viral proteins are initially expressed at low levels and there is no effective and quantitative method to determine the efficiency of infection on a cell-to-cell basis. Here we describe human papillomavirus (HPV) genomes that express marker proteins (antibiotic resistance genes and Green Fluorescent Protein), and can be used to elucidate early stages in HPV infection of primary keratinocytes. To generate these recombinant genomes, the late region of the oncogenic HPV18 genome was replaced by CpG free marker genes. Insertion of these exogenous genes did not affect early replication, and had only minimal effects on early viral transcription. When introduced into primary keratinocytes, the recombinant marker genomes gave rise to drug

SUBMITTER: Van Doorslaer K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5125267 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature