Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Nov-Dec;35(6):3203-3209.
doi: 10.21873/invivo.12615.

Presence of HPV 16 and HPV 18 in Spermatozoa and Embryos of Mice

Eirini Mastora  1 , Chrysoula Kitsou  2 , Theocharis Evangelou  1 , Athanasios Zikopoulos  1 , Nektaria Zagorianakou  3 , Ioannis Georgiou  4
Affiliations

Presence of HPV 16 and HPV 18 in Spermatozoa and Embryos of Mice

Eirini Mastora et al. In Vivo. 2021 Nov-Dec.

Abstract

Background/aim: Sperm cells are competent to integrate exogenous DNA into their genome. We sought to clarify Human Pappiloma Virus (HPV) internalization in spermatozoa and early preimplantation embryos.

Materials and methods: Sperm was incubated with plasmid vectors containing the complete genome of human HPV 16 and HPV 18 tagged with the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene, to investigate HPV 16 and HPV 18 integration in mouse spermatozoa. Oocytes were in vitro fertilized with preincubated spermatozoa to investigate HPV 16 and HPV 18 potential transfer to mouse embryos.

Results: Spermatozoa were able to internalize constructs of cloned high-risk HPV either as integrated or as episomal DNA. Constructs of cloned HPV can also be transferred to mouse embryos, through in vitro fertilization of the oocytes by mouse spermatozoa.

Conclusion: Viral DNA transmission to the early mouse embryo via sperm, highlights the effect of HPV in reproductive cells and preimplantation development.

Keywords: Human Pappiloma Virus; embryos; mouse; spermatozoa.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The Authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest regarding this study.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis in mouse epididymal spermatozoa after a 5-h incubation with GFP-HPV 16 (A) and GFP-HPV 18 (B) constructs (50 ng/106 sperm cells). Spermatozoa are able to internalize constructs of cloned high risk HPV viruses.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Confocal microscopy analysis of control embryos and HPV-positive embryos. HPV 16 and HPV 18 positive embryos present green fluorescence protein signal. Constructs of cloned HPV viruses can be transferred to mouse embryos, through oocyte in vitro fertilization by preincubated spermatozoa.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. zur Hausen H. Papillomavirus infections – a major cause of human cancers. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1996;1288(2):F55–F78. doi: 10.1016/0304-419x(96)00020-0. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Doorbar J. Molecular biology of human papillomavirus infection and cervical cancer. Clin Sci (Lond) 2006;110(5):525–541. doi: 10.1042/CS20050369. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bernard HU, Calleja-Macias IE, Dunn ST. Genome variation of human papillomavirus types: phylogenetic and medical implications. Int J Cancer. 2006;118(5):1071–1076. doi: 10.1002/ijc.21655. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Jemal A, Bray F, Center MM, Ferlay J, Ward E, Forman D. Global cancer statistics. CA Cancer J Clin. 2011;61(2):69–90. doi: 10.3322/caac.20107. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Forman D, de Martel C, Lacey CJ, Soerjomataram I, Lortet-Tieulent J, Bruni L, Vignat J, Ferlay J, Bray F, Plummer M, Franceschi S. Global burden of human papillomavirus and related diseases. Vaccine. 2012;30(Suppl 5):F12–F23. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2012.07.055. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources