Cervical cancer is a major cause of death in women worldwide and is strongly associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Integration of HPV is thought to be a key step in malignant progression, and is associated with loss of regulation of the viral E6 and E7 oncogenes. Leptomycin B (LMB), a nuclear export inhibitor, has previously been shown to induce apoptosis in primary keratinocytes transduced with the HPV 16 E7 or E6/E7 genes, but not in normal cells. We show here that LMB can also induce apoptosis in derivatives of the W12 cell line that contain either episomal or integrated HPV 16. Cells transduced with HPV 16 E7 or E6/E7, and the episomal and integrated W12 derivatives showed distinct temporal expression patterns of the apoptotic markers activated caspase-3 and M30. The expression of both markers occurred later in the episomal derivatives than in either transduced cells or W12 derivatives containing integrated HPV. These findings suggest that, although LMB can induce apoptosis in keratinocytes containing episomal or integrated HPV 16, genome status is likely to influence the response of HPV-associated anogenital lesions to LMB treatment.

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