The E6 and E7 oncoproteins of the high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) types are able to immortalize human keratinocytes in vitro and likely contribute to the development of anogenital malignancies in vivo. The role of these oncoproteins in the productive viral life cycle, however, is not known. To begin to examine these possible roles, mutations in E6 were introduced in the context of the complete HPV 31 genome. Although transfected wild-type HPV 31 genomes, as well as genomes containing an E6 translation termination linker, an E6 frameshift mutation, and a point mutation in the p53 interacting domain were able to replicate in transient assays, only the wild-type genome was stably maintained as an episome. Interestingly, mutant genomes in either the E6 splice-donor site or splice-acceptor site were reduced in replication ability in transient assays; however, cotransfection of E1 and E2 expression vectors restored this function. In a similar fashion, genomes containing mutant HPV 31 E7 genes, including a translation termination mutant, two Rb-binding site mutants, a casein kinase II phosphorylation site mutant, and a transformation deficient mutant, were constructed. Although transient replication was similar to wild type in all of the E7 mutants, only the casein kinase II mutant had the ability to maintain high copies of episomal genomes. These findings suggest a role for E6 and E7 in the viral life cycle beyond their ability to extend the life span of infected cells.High-risk genital human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are the causative agents of cervical and other anogenital cancers (1, 2). This association is due, in part, to the ability of two of the viral gene products, E6 and E7, to target cellular proteins that regulate the cell cycle (3, 4). The most notable of these are p53 and Rb. E6 facilitates the degradation of p53 through its association with an accessory protein, E6-AP, a component of the ubiquitin-degradation pathway, whereas E7 binds to and disrupts the functions of Rb (5). Numerous studies have broadened our understanding of these interactions and confirmed the role of these oncoproteins in transformation, immortalization, and the induction of genomic instability (6, 7). In contrast, little information is available on the functions of E6 and E7 in the productive viral life cycle.The life cycle of HPV is closely associated with the differentiation program of the infected epithelial tissue (8). Consequent to infection, viral genomes replicate as episomes in basal cells coincident with cellular replication, maintaining copy number at Ϸ50 per cell. After cell division, the daughter cells leave the basal layer and begin to differentiate. As the cells reach the suprabasal layer, entry into S phase is induced, most likely through the action of the E7 protein (9, 10). This entry into S phase results in amplification of the viral genomes, expression of capsid proteins, and assembly of progeny virus in the outermost layer of the infected tissue (11).The E1 and E2 proteins of papillomaviruses have been...

A capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method was developed for the rapid analysis of charge heterogeneity of immunoglobulin G (IgG) monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). The separation was carried out in a short, dynamically coated fused-silica capillary. A number of separation parameters were investigated and optimized, including pH, concentration of the separation buffer (ε-amino caproic acid), concentration of the triethylenetetramine (TETA) dynamic coating, the capillary internal diameter and the field strength used for the separation. The effects of between-run flushing of the capillary and the data acquisition rate were also evaluated. Under the optimized conditions, a fast (<5 min), selective and reproducible separation of mAb charge variants was achieved under a very high electric field strength (1000 V/cm). This method also requires only a short conditioning of the capillary, with between-run conditioning completed within 2 min. The method was evaluated for specificity, sensitivity, linearity, accuracy and precision. The same separation conditions were applied to the rapid separation (2-5 min) of charge variants of multiple monoclonal antibodies with pI in the range of 7.0-9.5. Compared with other existing methods for charge variants analysis, this method has several advantages including a short run time, rapid capillary conditioning and simple sample preparation.

The E6 and E7 proteins of the high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs) act coordinately to immortalize human keratinocytes. These viral oncoproteins function by binding and altering the activity of cellular proteins which regulate cell cycle progression. Among the proteins bound by E7 are the retinoblastoma protein, Rb, as well as the related p107 and p130 proteins. In addition, E7 binds cyclin A, which regulates transit through the S and G2/M phases of the cell cycle. In this study, we demonstrate that HPV 18 E7 also associates with cyclin E which controls the G1/S transition. E7/cyclin E complexes were immunoprecipitated from E7-expressing cells as well as from cell extracts using GST-E7 fusion proteins. E7 was found to complex with a single form of cyclin E, and the binding was mediated through p107. Both E7/cyclin E and E7/cyclin A complexes exhibit kinase activity through associated cdk2 proteins which can contribute to phosphorylation of p107. The association of E7 with proteins which regulate transit through the cell cycle may provide an additional mechanism by which infection with human papillomaviruses results in cellular hyperproliferation.

A set of related capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) methods have been developed for the analysis of identity, charge variants, and disulfide isoforms of IgG monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). These methods utilize an uncoated capillary column. The combined use of concentrated zwitterionic (e-amino-caproic acid) buffer and acid flushing was effective in minimizing the adsorption of protein to the inner wall of a bare capillary. Under these conditions, a selective and reproducible separation of multiple IgG1 and IgG2 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) was obtained with a long capillary column (40 cm effective length), allowing the reliable identification of different mAbs by migration time. A rapid ( approximately 10 min) and selective separation of charged variants of IgG mAbs was attained using a short capillary column (10 cm effective length). Finally, the addition of urea in the separation buffer resulted in the separation of disulfide isoforms of IgG2 mAbs by CZE. CZE methods using an uncoated capillary column offer a versatile, generic, and economical approach to the evaluation of identity, charge heterogeneity, and disulfide isoforms of IgG antibodies.

An international team including 12 laboratories from 11 independent biopharmaceutical companies in the United States and Switzerland was formed to evaluate the precision and robustness of imaged capillary isoelectric focusing for the charge heterogeneity analysis of monoclonal antibodies. The different laboratories determined the apparent pI and the relative distribution of the charged isoforms for a representative monoclonal antibody sample using the same capillary isoelectric focusing assay. Statistical evaluation of the data was performed to determine within and between laboratory consistencies and outlying information. The apparent pI data generated for each charged variant peak showed very good precision between laboratories with RSD values of less than 0.8%. Similarly, the RSD for the therapeutic monoclonal antibody charged variants percent peak area values are less than 11% across different laboratories using different analyst, different lots of ampholytes and multiple instruments. These results validate the appropriate use of imaged capillary isoelectric focusing in the biopharmaceutical industry in support of process development and regulatory submissions of therapeutic antibodies.