Chromosomal analysis of immortalized rat embryo fibroblasts (IE5) and
transformed by HPV18 E6+E7 genes (A4E5) or HPV16 E7 alone (trB4; trF8;
trC2) variants have been done. Transformed cell lines represented het
erogeneous cell populations containing neardiploid subpopulations with
41-44 chromosomes and also heterogeneous polyploid cells in contrast
to immortal cells IE5 that contained normal number of chromosomes-42.
In transformed cells the abnormalities of interphase nuclei (giant-, m
icro-, apoptotic nuclei) were observed which could reflect genomic ins
tability of polyploid cells. Several chromosomal alterations were reve
aled in immortal IE5 cells, but only reciprocal translocation t(8; 10)
(q22q12.3) was stable and kept in cells transformed by HPV18 E6+E7 ge
nes or HPV16 E7 alone. We can conclude that genomic instability and cl
onal expansion of the cells with specific chromosomal alterations cont
ribute to HPV-mediated transformation.