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  • Original Article
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HPV16 E6 confers p53-dependent and p53-independent phenotypes in the epidermis of mice deficient for E6AP

Oncogene volume 26, pages 3321–3328 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

High-risk human papillomaviruses are the causative agents of cervical and other anogenital cancers. In these cancers, two viral oncogenes, E6 and E7, are expressed. E6 is best known for its ability to inactivate the tumor suppressor p53, which is thought to arise through ubiquitin-mediated degradation of p53 and involve a ternary complex between E6, p53 and the E3 ligase, E6AP. In mice transgenic for wild-type HPV16 E6, its expression leads to epithelial hyperplasia and an abrogation of normal cellular responses to DNA damage. Whereas only the latter phenotype is dependent upon E6's inactivation of p53, both are reduced in transgenic mice expressing an E6 mutant severely reduced in its binding to E6AP and other cellular proteins that bind E6 through a shared α-helix motif. Here, we investigated whether E6AP is required for the induction of the above phenotypes through the use of both E6AP-mutant and E6AP-null mice. E6, in the absence of E6AP retains an ability to induce epithelial hyperplasia, abrogate DNA damage responses and inhibit the induction of p53 protein following exposure to ionizing radiation. We conclude that E6 is able to induce both p53-dependent and p53-independent phenotypes through E6AP-independent pathways in the mouse.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Drs Drinkwater and Sugden for critical reading of the paper, members of the Lambert lab for helpful discussions and Lawrence Banks for the communication of unpublished observations. This study was supported by Grants CA098428, CA022443, CA014520 and CA009135 from the NIH.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cancer Biology, McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA

    A Shai, M L Nguyen & P F Lambert

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, NC, USA

    J Wagstaff

  3. Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Baylor University, Houston, TX, USA

    Y-h Jiang

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  1. A Shai
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  2. M L Nguyen
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Correspondence to P F Lambert.

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Shai, A., Nguyen, M., Wagstaff, J. et al. HPV16 E6 confers p53-dependent and p53-independent phenotypes in the epidermis of mice deficient for E6AP. Oncogene 26, 3321–3328 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1210130

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