Association of Merkel cell polyomavirus-specific antibodies with Merkel cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) has been detected in approximately 75% of patients with the rare skin cancer Merkel cell carcinoma. We investigated the prevalence of antibodies against MCPyV in the general population and the association between these antibodies and Merkel cell carcinoma. METHODS: Multiplex antibody-binding assays were used to assess levels of antibodies against polyomaviruses in plasma. MCPyV VP1 antibody levels were determined in plasma from 41 patients with Merkel cell carcinoma and 76 matched control subjects. MCPyV DNA was detected in tumor tissue specimens by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Seroprevalence of polyomavirus-specific antibodies was determined in 451 control subjects. MCPyV strain-specific antibody recognition was investigated by replacing coding sequences from MCPyV strain 350 with those from MCPyV strain w162. RESULTS: We found that 36 (88%) of 41 patients with Merkel cell carcinoma carried antibodies against VP1 from MCPyV w162 compared with 40 (53%) of the 76 control subjects (odds ratio adjusted for age and sex = 6.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.3 to 18.8). MCPyV DNA was detectable in 24 (77%) of the 31 Merkel cell carcinoma tumors available, with 22 (92%) of these 24 patients also carrying antibodies against MCPyV. Among 451 control subjects from the general population, prevalence of antibodies against human polyomaviruses was 92% (95% CI = 89% to 94%) for BK virus, 45% (95% CI = 40% to 50%) for JC virus, 98% (95% CI = 96% to 99%) for WU polyomavirus, 90% (95% CI = 87% to 93%) for KI polyomavirus, and 59% (95% CI = 55% to 64%) for MCPyV. Few case patients had reactivity against MCPyV strain 350; however, indistinguishable reactivities were found with VP1 from strain 350 carrying a double mutation (residues 288 and 316) and VP1 from strain w162. CONCLUSION: Infection with MCPyV is common in the general population. MCPyV, but not other human polyomaviruses, appears to be associated with Merkel cell carcinoma.

Identification of human papillomavirus type 16 L1 surface loops required for neutralization by human sera.

The variable surface loops on human papillomavirus (HPV) virions required for type-specific neutralization by human sera remain poorly defined. To determine which loops are required for neutralization, a series of hybrid virus-like particles (VLPs) were used to adsorb neutralizing activity from HPV type 16 (HPV16)-reactive human sera before being tested in an HPV16 pseudovirion neutralization assay. The hybrid VLPs used were composed of L1 sequences of either HPV16 or HPV31, on which one or two regions were replaced with homologous sequences from the other type. The regions chosen for substitution were the five known loops that form surface epitopes recognized by monoclonal antibodies and two additional variable regions between residues 400 and 450. Pretreatment of human sera, previously found to react to HPV16 VLPs in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, with wild-type HPV16 VLPs and hybrid VLPs that retained the neutralizing epitopes reduced or eliminated the ability of sera to inhibit pseudovirus infection in vitro. Surprisingly, substitution of a single loop often ablated the ability of VLPs to adsorb neutralizing antibodies from human sera. However, for all sera tested, multiple surface loops were found to be important for neutralizing activity. Three regions, defined by loops DE, FG, and HI, were most frequently identified as being essential for binding by neutralizing antibodies. These observations are consistent with the existence of multiple neutralizing epitopes on the HPV virion surface.

Identification of a human papillomavirus type 16-specific epitope on the C-terminal arm of the major capsid protein L1.

To characterize epitopes on human papillomavirus (HPV) virus-like particles (VLPs), a panel of mutated HPV-16 VLPs was created. Each mutated VLP had residues substituted from HPV-31 or HPV-52 L1 sequences to the HPV-16 L1 backbone. Mutations were created on the HPV-31 and -52 L1 proteins to determine if HPV-16 type-specific recognition could be transferred. Correct folding of the mutated proteins was verified by resistance to trypsin digestion and by binding to one or more conformation-dependent monoclonal antibodies. Several of the antibodies tested were found to bind to regions already identified as being important for HPV VLP recognition (loops DE, EF, FG, and HI). Sequences at both ends of the long FG loop (amino acids 260 to 290) were required for both H16.V5 and H16.E70 reactivity. A new antibody-binding site was discovered on the C-terminal arm of L1 between positions 427 and 445. Recognition of these residues by the H16.U4 antibody suggests that this region is surface exposed and supports a recently proposed molecular model of HPV VLPs.

Lack of serologic evidence for prevalent simian virus 40 infection in humans.

BACKGROUND: Propagation of poliovirus in monkey kidney cells led to the inadvertent contamination of poliovirus vaccines with simian virus 40 (SV40) between 1955 and 1963. Recent studies using polymerase chain reaction-based strategies have detected SV40 DNA in a large number of tumor types. The finding of SV40 DNA in tumors from individuals who are too young to have been exposed to SV40-contaminated vaccines has led to the suggestion that SV40 has become a prevalent transmissible human pathogen. To test this hypothesis, we screened human sera for antibodies to SV40 using direct and competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). METHODS: An ELISA was developed using recombinant SV40 virus-like particles (VLPs) and was validated using sera from naturally infected macaques. VLPs of SV40 and the related ubiquitous human polyomaviruses, JCV and BKV, were used to screen human sera to determine the prevalence of SV40, JCV, and BKV antibodies among a normal population of control subjects (n = 487) and among case patients with either osteosarcoma (n = 122) or prostate cancer (n = 90). A competitive ELISA in which sera were pre-adsorbed with each type of VLP was used to identify cross-reactive antibodies. Correlations of reactivity among the three polyomavirus types were calculated using the Spearman correlation coefficient. All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS: BKV and JCV antibodies were prevalent in all case patients and control subjects examined. In contrast, only 6.6% (46/699) of serum samples were positive for SV40 antibodies by ELISA; however, none of these samples could be confirmed as having authentic SV40 antibodies following pre-adsorption with JCV or BKV VLPs. CONCLUSION: These data indicate that some individuals have BKV and/or JCV antibodies that cross-react with SV40, but they do not provide support for SV40 being a prevalent human pathogen.