OVEREXPRESSION OF THE PROTOONCOGENE C-JUN IN ASSOCIATION WITH LOW-RISK TYPE-SPECIFIC HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS INFECTION IN CONDYLOMA ACUMINATA

Infection with different types of human papillomavirus (HPV) is associ ated with neoplasia at different anatomic sites. The ''low-risk'' HPVs (LR-HPV) are responsible for benign genital lesions such as condyloma acuminata. In order to clarify the tumorigenic mechanism of LR-HPV, t he HPV infection status was investigated and the expression of the c-j un proto-oncogene in different HPV-related skin and genital lesions an alyzed. Of the 17 condyloma specimens analyzed by Western blotting, 13 cases (76.5%) exhibited overexpression of the c-jun gene. All 13 case s harbored high copy numbers of the LR-HPV genome with an average of 9 26 copies per cell, whereas the other four cases had an average of 12 copies of LR-HPV per cell (P < 0.001). Further typing of HPV by Southe rn blotting revealed that HPV-6 and HPV-11 infections predominated in c-jun positive cases. The c-jun protein was detected much less frequen tly in cervical cancers (three of 29, or 10.3%) and skin warts (one of 10), and was not detected in five genital polyps or in five normal ce rvical tissues. These findings suggest a type 6/11-specific induction of c-jun gene expression in HPV-related neoplastic lesions. (C) 1996 W iley-Liss, Inc.