INTERACTION OF HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS TYPE-16 AND ADENOASSOCIATED VIRUSTYPE-2 CO-INFECTING HUMAN CERVICAL EPITHELIUM

Recently, we hypothesized that the tumour-suppressive, human helper-vi rus-dependent, adenoassociated parvoviruses (AAV) may interfere with t ransforming functions of human papillomaviruses (HPV) in the developme nt of cervical carcinoma. Here, we demonstrate that in cervical epithe lium containing papillomavirus DNA, AAV DNA can be detected in a repli cation-competent form and that AAV proteins are expressed, In cultured cells containing integrated AAV-2 DNA, transfection of HPV-16 DNA ind uced rescue of infectious AAV-2, revealing helper functions of HPV-16, Similarly, cotransfection of HPV-16 and AAV-2 DNAs into human epithel ial cell lines led to replication of AAV-2, and, in keratinocytes, to a cytopathic effect. These data suggest an interaction of the two viru ses, possibly influencing the development of HPV-related lesions.