Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide. The principal cause of cervical cancer is infection with human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV-16 is a high-risk virus and it is responsible for a high portion of all HPV-caused cancers. The HPV-16 genome consists of early and late genes. The virus initially infects basal cells of the cervix epithelium and in these cells early genes are expressed, whilst late genes, L1 and L2, are only expressed in the upper cell layers of the epithelium. Proteins encoded by the late genes are highly immunogenic, thus it is speculated that expression of the late genes earlier in the virus life cycle could lead to clearance of the virus due to interference of the immune system.     The aim of this study was to treat reporter cell lines with three different small molecule drugs to see if they had the ability to induce HPV-16 late gene expression. The reporter cell lines used in this study had been previously created by transfecting HeLa-cells with plasmids representing the HPV-16 genome. In these plasmids, L1 is replaced with a CAT reporter gene that encodes the CAT protein, which can be easily quantified using a sandwich ELISA.     Upon treating the reporter cell lines with TPA, a significant induction of late gene expression was detected. Furthermore, treatment with valproic acid showed some induction of late gene expression. In conclusion, TPA and valproic acid was deemed to have potential to act as a candidate drugs for treatment of HPV infections.

No description available.