In this review paper we present the latest knowledge about human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, HPV life cycle and HPV as a risk factor for cancer. Additionally, we discuss the functions of the viral proteins that appear to be the most appropriate for the development of therapeutics aimed at the treatment of viral infection and virus induced cancers.
COBISS.SI-ID: 1391099
We showed that HPV-16 L2 protein is sumoylated at lysine 35 and that sumoylation affects its stability. The sumoylated form of L2 cannot bind to the major capsid protein L1, suggesting a mechanism by which capsid assembly may be modulated in an infected cell. Additionally, L2 appears to modulate the overall sumoylation status of the host cell. These observations indicate a complex interplay between the HPV L2 protein and the host sumoylation machinery. The paper was published in one of the leading virology journals.
COBISS.SI-ID: 1743611
We showed that DCs matured for over 20 hours can still induce a potent CTL response in spite of their decreased production of IL-12. We suggested that, apart from IL-12 production, concentration of co-stimulatory molecules on DCs is one of the decisive factors affecting their capacity to prime T cells. But even in the case of high concentration of co-stimulatory molecules on DCs, induction of CTLs still depends on CD4+ T cells.
COBISS.SI-ID: 21412647
In this article we investigated whether the level of fused late endocytic compartments affects the immunostimulatory capacity of hybridomas obtained by the electrofusion of dendritic and tumor cells. The level of fused late endocytic compartments was assessed and fused cells were then used for the priming of naive autologous T cells. The results demonstrate that in vitro cytotoxic T cell responses toward tumor cells are enhanced if a higher percentage of fused late endocytic compartments is present in the cell population of electrofused hybridoma cells.
COBISS.SI-ID: 25624281