The longer half-life of integrated viral transcripts compared to episomal transcripts is believed to promote cellular immortalization and transformation. Thus, HPV integration is considered a major driving factor in HPV-associated carcinogenesis.

The research group of Noah Sasa (Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University/The University of Tokyo/RIKEN) and Yukinori Okada (Statistical Immunology, WPI-IFReC/Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University/The University of Tokyo/RIKEN) investigated the relationship between HPV integration and somatic mutations in the human genome using whole-genome sequencing data from 51 HPV-related head and neck cancers, including 14 Japanese cases.  They found a correlation between intratumoral heterogeneity of HPV integration and genomic instability caused by the APOBEC3 enzyme.
(online publishing in Nature Communications on Jan. 26, 2025)

Contact

Prof. Yukinori Okada

yokadasg.med.osaka-u.ac.jp

Statistical Immunology