Around the age of 13, I had to get the vaccine for the human papillomavirus (HPV), as I'm sure most females have. I have never looked into what this virus is and why I had to receive this vaccine. I started my search with Molecular biology of human papillomavirus infection and cervical cancer. It turns out, there are over 100 different HPV types that have been identified. These different types of HPVs cause a variety of epithelial lesions. The two main HPVs are the alpha and beta papillomaviruses. Beta papillomaviruses can spread if unchecked and can lead to the development of non-melanoma skin cancer. Alpha papillomavirus is the largest group of HPVs out of all of the types.
Alpha papillomaviruses cause warts, which are usually not linked to cancer in most patients. However, there are 30 types of HPVs that infect the cervical epithelium and part of these cause lesions that can lead to cancer and are labeled as "high-risk" HPV. The most common high-risk HPV type is known as HPV16, which causes about 50% of cervical cancers. High-risk HPV infections occur in younger woman (about 25), approximately 20-40%. As you get older, however, the risk of cervical cancer is lowered due to the infections clearing up or the immune system gaining control of the infection.
Human papillomaviruses are circular with double stranded DNA and have a protective capsid. This virus will infect the epithelial cells of the cervical mucosa and integrates the DNA into the cellular genome. While 90% will heal within approximately two years, some instances involve the HPV DNA integrating into tumor cell DNA and developing into cancer. The life cycle of HPV includes the initial infection, uncoating, amplification of its' genome, and packaging to form new viral particles. The papillomaviruses will cause cancer when regulation of gene expression is disturbed. Oncoproteins E6 and E7 are apart of the regulation of cell proliferation and cell death. When these are expressed incorrectly it can be extremely dangerous and leads to the cancer causing papillomavirus.
Reference:
http://www.clinsci.org/content/110/5/525.full
Wow, I've always heard about HPV and that it was very common but I had no idea on what the virus did. I also didn't know that different strains caused different types of warts.This was very informative.
ReplyDeleteI never knew there were that many strains! I like you received the vaccine because I was told to do so by my pediatrician and parents. It's kind of scary to know there are so many strains but I feel kind of relieved also that I got my vaccine and knowing that as one ages the risks become lower. This should be discussed when it comes time for someone to receive this vaccine, it's important to know!
ReplyDeleteI also received the HPV vaccination when I was in about seventh grade. My gynecologist told me that it was best to get them because approximately 90 percent of the population is carrying this virus. I know that if you become infected, especially women, you are required to get a pap-smear every year to make sure all of nothing is out of the ordinary. There are times in which the pap-smear will look abnormal and you either have to go in to get a biopsy or it is just because the virus was acting up on that particular day causing an inflammatory-like reaction. It really can be risky if it isn't watched especially for women. Unfortunately, the vaccine that we received when we were little girls does not protect from all of the strains, just the most common, so you still have to be careful. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI'm very glad that I did get the vaccination after reading this article. I only knew a very small amount about HPV before reading this. I knew there were quite a few strains but I wasn't aware that there were over 100. I know a lot of women look over this vaccine but I think it's very important to get since so much of the population carries this. This was a very informative post!
ReplyDeleteOh wow I never knew there were so many types of the HPV virus!! You said that HPV16 has a chance of causing cervical cancer. Are there any strains in particular that cause certain cancers in males?
ReplyDeleteMy first work in molecular biology was in the summer of 1994 working on HPV-16 immortalized ectocervical epithelial cell cultures. The dangers were well known then. I wonder why it took so long to get a vaccine.
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