Human Papillomavirus Type 52: a New Virus Associated with Cervical Neoplasia

1 Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Pathology, Vincent T. Lombardi Cancer Research Center, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington D.C. 20007 and 2 Department of Molecular Diagnostics, Bethesda Research Laboratories, Division of Life Technologies, Inc., Gaithersburg, Maryland 20877, U.S.A. Analysis of biopsies of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) revealed a high percentage with human papillomavirus (HPV) sequences that would hybridize to a mixture of HPV probes only under conditions of relaxed stringency. The DNA sequences of one of these viruses was molecularly cloned and shown to be a new HPV, type 52 (HPV-52). This virus is most closely related to HPV-33. Hybridization analysis with restriction fragments of HPV-52 showed collinearity with the HPV-33 genome. DNA sequencing revealed a high level of conservation between the two viruses within the L1 open reading frame but significant divergence in the non-coding region of the viral genomes. Prevalence studies indicated that HPV-52 sequences were present in three of 137 (2%) CIN and in one of 48 (2%) cervical squamous cell cancers studied in the U.S.A. Keywords: HPV-52, cervical neoplasia, hybridization Present address: Laboratory Animal Center, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. Present address: Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Center for Molecular Biology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan 48201, U.S.A. Received 16 June 1988; accepted 15 August 1988.