CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Papillomaviruses (PV) are DNA tumor viruses with tropism for mucosal and cutaneous epithelia. Human PVs (HPV) have been taxonomically classified based on the phylogenetic relationships of their L1 ORF. Recently, a link between UV radiation and HPV infection has been established in the early pathogenesis of skin cancer. In this study we explored the HPV type spectrum in skin diseases from 71 subjects. CUT primers targeting 88 mucosal/cutaneous HPV were designed and compared to FAP primers, using the hanging droplet PCR technique. Overall, 69 different HPV types/putative types were identified, being 17 of them novel putative types. Phylogenetic analysis of the novel putative types grouped them into Beta-PV (GC02, GC17), Gamma-PV (GC01, GC04 to GC16) and Mu-PV (GC03) genera. CUT primers showed broader capacity in detecting different genera/species and novel putative types than FAP primers. Using overlapping PCR, the full-length genome of GC02 isolate was characterized. The new virus, designated HPV 115, has a 7,476 bp genome potentially encoding 5 early genes (E6, E7, E1, E2, E4) and 2 late genes (L2, L1). L1 ORF phylogenetic analysis indicated HPV 115 as the most divergent type within the genus Beta-PV species 3. This report is the first providing data on cutaneous HPVs circulating in South America. The characterization of HPV 115 expands our knowledge of the Papillomaviridae family.  Publicado en Biocell (ISSN 0327-9545) 2009;33(Supl.):48.