CHARACTERIZATION OF HUMAN AORTIC SMOOTH-MUSCLE CELLS EXPRESSING HPV16E6 AND E7 OPEN READING FRAMES

A comparative study of human papillomavirus type 16 E6E7-transfected a nd normal human aortic smooth muscle cells by morphological, electron microscopic, immunofluorescent, and biochemical analyses demonstrated that the E6E7-expressing cells retained much of the phenotype of norma l aortic smooth muscle cells, including expression of smooth muscle ma rkers and appropriate growth responses to PDGF and heparin. These cell s differed from normal vascular smooth muscle cells in that they had s lightly altered morphology and a higher growth rate that was not due t o an autocrine response to secreted PDGF, and they contained more poly ribosomes than normal smooth musclc cells.