Human Papillomavirus Capsid Protein-pREP in Schizosaccharomyces pombe: Efficient Assembly of the Viral Capsid Protein in S. pombe and S. cerevisiae

Papillomaviruses infect the epithelia of a wide variety of animals and generally induce benign proliferative lesions at the site of in-ection. Some types of papillomavirus can induce malignant tumors. More than 7o types of human papillomavirus (HPV) have been isolated and some of these HPVs are etiological factors for various warts in the skin or the mucosal epithelium. Each HPV type has a strong host cell specificity for infection. Among the mucosal types, HPV 6 and HPV n are associated with benign warts, while the HPV 161 and the HPV 182 are associated with anogenital cancer and its precursor lesions.3 Although HPV 6 or HPV n are generally benign in adults, they can also induce more severe lesions in children such as juvenile laryngeal papillomatosis.4 This disease is extremely resistant to any clinical treatment. Therefore, it is important to establish human prophylactic vaccines against HPV 6 and 11, as well as the malignant types of HPV such as HPV 16 and 18, to prevent these viral infections. The study of these viral structural proteins has progressed less than that of the oncoproteins of these viruses, because of the lack of a suitable propagation system for HPV virions in vitro.