IN-VITRO HPV-11 INFECTION OF HUMAN FORESKIN

Study of the infectious process of human papillomavirus type ll (HPV-ll) has been facilitated by the discovery that HPV-11-infected neonatal human foreskin epithelium can proliferate as xenografts into condyloma-like growths within athymic nude mice. Here we describe detection of HPV-11 infection of neonatal human foreskin-derived keratinocytes, infected and cultured entirely in vitro, by use of the polymerase chain reaction and primers straddling the splice donor/acceptor site of the most prevalent early gene HPV-11 transcript (El AND E4). Expression of the E1 ANF E4 HPV-11 mRNA is abrogated by 60-degrees-C heat inactivation of the inoculum. HPV-11-infected foreskin explants continue to produce the E1 AND E4 mRNA for up to 5 weeks in culture, and second-passage keratinocytes derived from infected explant outgrowths continue to produce the E1 AND E4 mRNA. The in vitro system described here provides a new way to study HPV-11 infection and may be useful in evaluating early events of infection.