Topological conformational changes of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA bound to an insoluble aluminum salt—A study by low temperature PCR

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A low temperature (LoTemp?) polymerase chain reaction (PCR), conducted at cycling temperatures not to exceed 85℃and catalyzed by a novel highly processive HiFi? DNA polymerase with proofreading function, was used to study the topological conformational changes of the human papillomavirus (HPV) L1 gene DNA fragments bound to the insoluble amorphous aluminum hydroxyphosphate sulfate (AAHS) adjuvant in the quadrivalent HPV vaccine, Gardasil?. L1 gene DNA fragments of HPV-11, HPV-18 and HPV-16 were detected in the AAHS particles by nested PCR, but all were lacking a region that was amplifiable by an MY09 degenerate primer. In addition, a pair of degenerate consensus GP6/MY11 primers was able to amplify a target segment of the HPV-11 L1 gene DNA and the HPV-18 L1 gene DNA bound to the AAHS particles as expected for any HPV DNA in the B-conformation. However, there was no co-amplification of the HPV-16 L1 gene DNA known to coexist in the same samples. The lack of co-amplification was verified by direct DNA sequencing of the PCR amplicons. The companion HPV-16 L1 gene DNA in the same sample required repeated PCRs with a pair of modified non-degenerate GP6/ MY11 primers for detection. This melting profile of the HPV-16 L1 gene DNA was similar to that of the HPV-16 L1 gene DNA recently discovered in the postmortem blood of a young woman who suffered a sudden unexpected death 6 months after Gardasil? vaccination. The findings suggest that the topological conformational changes in the HPV L1 gene DNA residues bound to the AAHS adjuvant may be genotype-related. The special non-B-conformation may prevent the HPV-16 L1 gene DNA from being degraded in the body of the vaccine recipients after in- tramuscular injection.