Molecular variants of human papillomavirus: impact on viral life cycle and persistence

人乳头瘤病毒(HPV)是一种DNA病毒，感染皮肤等身体涂层组织。目前已鉴定出200多种类型的HPV，其中一部分可以将健康组织从良性转变为恶性。这只发生在大约一百个感染者中的一个，并且与HPV在宿主中持续存在的能力有关。尤其是其中一种变型的HPV比其他类型更容易持续存在，这可能是由其DNA基因组中的“变异”引起的。这种HPV在世界范围内也是最流行的。通过分析病毒生命周期中这种特定类型的变种的活动，我们将理解病毒变种在持久性中所起的作用。这项建议解决了病毒生物学的一个基本的中心主题。病毒变异通过影响病毒漂移和转移来推动进化的概念，以确保病毒后代以前从未被测试过，可能会导致新的发现。

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a DNA virus that infects coating tissues of the body such as skin. More than 200 types have been identified and a subset of these HPVs can "transform" healthy tissue from a benign to a malignant state. This occurs only in approximately one of a hundred infected individuals and is related to the ability of HPV to persist in the host. In particular one HPV of the transforming types is more prone to persist than other types, which may be caused by "variants" in its DNA genome. This HPV is also most prevalent worldwide. By analyzing the activities of variants of this specific type during the viral life cycle we will comprehend the role viral variants play in persistence. This proposal addresses a basic, central theme of virus biology. The concept that viral variants drive evolution by impacting on viral drift and shift to ensure viral progeny has not been tested previously and will potentially lead to new discoveries.