Characterization of human laryngeal epithelial cells transfected with human papillomavirus type 16 dna

Abstract

Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are associated with tumor lesions of the larynx. In order to develop a model for investigating the role of HPV in human laryngeal carcinogenesis, normal human laryngeal epithelial cells (HLEC cells) were transfected with a cloned full-length HPV genome. The HPV type 16 (HPV-16) most often associated with cancer of the larynx induced an extended life-span in vitro of HLEC cells by exceeding 100 population doublings, while the HPV-11 that is associated with benign laryngeal papillomas failed to do so. The extended life-span cells (HLEC-16 cells) contained integrated HPV-16 DNA, expressed viral E6 and E7 mRNA, showed anchorage-dependent growth and were non-tumorigenic. Using indirect immunocytochemical staining, nuclear p53 protein was not detectable in any of the HLEC-16 cells, implying that HLEC-16 cells were negative for p53 gene mutations. HLEC-16 cells should be useful for studying mechanisms involved in proliferation, differentiation and neoplastic transformation of HLEC cells. © 1994, The Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Society of Japan, Inc. All rights reserved.