Cloning and expression of the L1 major capsid protein of the human papillomavirus 18 in murine cells.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) type 18 is strongly associated with the development of cervical cancer. Studies of a model system with animal papillomaviruses have demonstrated the importance of neutralizing antibodies in preventing papillomavirus-associated disease. The immune response to HPV is poorly understood, and there are non- standardized serological assays to identify HPV infections.

Is the human papillomavirus DNA present in penile warts?

Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) has been established to be a sexually transmitted disease, with a potential risk of intraepithelial neoplasia and invasive cancer, function of the genotype involved. Scraped cells from lesions of 27 men establishing various types of penile warts were investigated by PCR for HPV DNA detection. Twenty patients (76.

Human papillomavirus and human cytomegalovirus DNAs presence in patients suspected of condylomatosis or papillomatosis.

17 samples of total cell DNA isolated from cervical smears from women suspected of condyloma or papilloma were analysed by PCR with appropriate primers, in order to establish the presence of viral DNAs (HPV and/or HCMV). HPV DNA was found in seven cases, and so was for HCMV DNA. Only in three cases a coinfection was present.

UV-A and PUV-A action on Sendai virus HN glycoprotein.

The UV-A and PUV-A treatments were applied on the Sendai virus and the changes of the biological properties of HN surface glycoprotein were monitorized. Under the UV-A action the HA and NA activities are inhibited in a dose-correlated way. When the irradiation was done in the presence of a photoreagent (8-MOP) the HA activity remained unchanged, but the enzymic activity was affected.

Cellular effects induced by some synthetic prostaglandins obtained at ICCF-Bucharest.

Four prostaglandin compounds synthetized at ICCF [chloprostenol triacetate (a), the isopropylic ester of the chloprostenol analogue (b), a PGA2 sulprostone analogue (c) and a PGE2 analogue (d)] were tested with respect to the cytotoxic effect, by successive studies on chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEF) and on human cells (HeLa). It was established that (b) and (d) display a high cytotoxicity, while (a) and (c) were relatively well tolerated by the cell layer. The spectrofluorometric determinations showed that these drugs did not induce modifications at the cell membrane level.