p53 codon 72 arg/pro polymorphism is not related to HPV type or lesion grade in low- and high-grade squamous intra-epithelial lesions and invasive squamous carcinoma of the cervix

A polymorphism at codon 72 of the p53 gene, resulting in either an arginine or a proline residue in the protein, has been reported to affect the susce ptibility of p53 to human papillomavirus (HPV) E6-mediated degradation in c ultured cells. However, the relevance of this polymorphism to naturally occ urring HPV infection is unclear. Therefore, we analysed its relationship to infecting HPV type and lesion grade in a series of low- and high-grade squ amous intra-epithelial lesions (SILs) and invasive carcinoma of the cervix. DNA extracted from morphologically characterised, paraffin-embedded tissue s (30 normal cervices, 118 low-grade SILs, 118 high-grade SILs and 43 invas ive carcinomas) was examined for the presence and type of HPV DNA, and the p53 genotype was identified by both allele-specific PCR and POP-restriction fragment length polymorphism. There was no significant relationship betwee n the frequency of p53 genotypes and either HPV type or lesion grade. Our d ata do not support the hypothesis that this p53 polymorphism is involved in the development of high-grade squamous cervical disease in this population , (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.