Patients and sample collection
All experimental procedures were approved by the institutional review boards of The University of Tokyo (approval number: G10082), Keio University (approval number: 2015-388), Chiba University (approval number: 560), Akita University (approval number: 2174), the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (approval number: 659), and Nihon University (approval number: 234-0), and signed informed consent for the use of tissues was obtained from each participant.
In total, 382 patients with cervical cytological abnormality who were admitted to the University of Tokyo, Chiba University, or Keio University between February 2016 and December 2017 were enrolled. Cervical tissues were obtained from biopsy under colposcopic examination. Samples were stored at -80°C until analysis.
Variables
Clinical data, such as age, gravidity, smoking history, usage of steroids or immunosuppressants, and time from first detection of abnormal cytology, were obtained by a medical interview. Histological results were classified into three CIN grades: CIN1, CIN2, and CIN3. Diagnosis was confirmed by a pathologist at Akita University.
The results of the HPV genotyping in cervical samples were recorded. It was permitted to assign multiple genotypes to a single patient. On the basis of the classification of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, we defined HPVs classified in Group 1 (HPV 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, and 59) as “high-risk HPVs (hrHPVs)” [3]. Of these, HPVs 16, 18, 52, and 58 were separately categorized. hrHPVs other than HPV 16, 18, 52, and 58 were classified as “other hrHPVs.”
HPV genotyping
DNA was extracted from cervical specimens using the Tissue Genomic DNA Extraction Mini Kit (Favorgen Biotech Corp., Ping-Tung, Taiwan) at The University of Tokyo. HPV genotyping was performed at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases using the PGMY-CHUV assay method as described previously [21]. Briefly, standard PCR was conducted using the PGMY09⁄11 L1 consensus primer set and human leukocyte antigen-DQ (HLADQ) primer sets. Subsequently, reverse blotting hybridization was performed. Heat-denatured PCR amplicons were hybridized to probes specific for 31 HPV genotypes and HLA-DQ references [22].
Primer design and standard plasmid
PCR primers were designed using Primer-Blast (NCBI) in reference to PaVE, the papilloma virus genome database. The following criteria were considered when designing the primer pairs: (1) each primer should be 19–23 bp in length, and (2) the amplicon should be between 70 and 260 bp in length. The primer design is shown in S1 Fig. Plasmid standards (Eurofin Scientific, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg) were used to derive standard curves for absolute quantification.
RNA extraction and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR)
Total RNA was extracted from cervical specimens using an miRNeasy Mini Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) after DNase treatment using the RNase-Free DNase Set (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) at The University of Tokyo. Extracted RNA was reverse-transcribed using the SuperScript III First-Strand Synthesis System for RT-PCR (Life Technologies, Carlsbad, CA, USA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. To assess mRNA expression levels, qRT-PCR was performed using a Light Cycler 480 system (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim, Germany) with 1 mL of cDNA. Expression of HPV-derived transcripts was normalized to that of GAPDH mRNA as an internal standard. The normalized copy number was calculated as follows: normalized copy number = copy number/2^[30 - GAPDH Cp value]. Primer pairs for amplification of GAPDH and each HPV-derived transcript are shown in Table 1. PCR conditions were as follows: 45 cycles at 95°C for 10 s, 62°C for 10 s, and 72°C for 18 s. All PCR reactions were assessed using melting curve analysis.
Table 1. Primer pairs used for qRT-PCR
Target
|
Direction
|
Sequence
|
Product size (bp)
|
Genome position
|
GAPDH
|
Forward
|
GAAAGGTGAAGGTCGGAGTC
|
227
|
|
Reverse
|
GAAGATGGTGATGGGATTTC
|
HPV 16 E6
|
Forward
|
AGCGACCCAGAAAGTTACCAC
|
260
|
123-143
|
|
Reverse
|
GTTGTATTGCTGTTCTAATGTTG
|
|
382-360
|
HPV 16 E6*
|
Forward
|
AGCGACCCAGAAAGTTACCAC
|
114
|
123-143
|
|
Reverse
|
TTAATACACCTCACGTCGC
|
|
418-409+226-217
|
HPV 16 E1^4
|
Forward
|
CCTGCAGCAGCAACGAAGTATC
|
218
|
874-880+3358-3372
|
|
Reverse
|
TTGGTCGCTGGATAGTCGTC
|
|
3479-3460
|
HPV 16 L1
|
Forward
|
GTCTCTTTGGCTGCCTAGTG
|
89
|
5641-5660
|
|
Reverse
|
TGCGTGCAACATATTCATCCG
|
|
5729-5709
|
HPV 18 E6
|
Forward
|
AACACGGCGACCCTACAAG
|
248
|
125-143
|
|
Reverse
|
ATGTGTCTCCATACACAGAGTC
|
|
372-351
|
HPV 18 E6*
|
Forward
|
AACACGGCGACCCTACAAG
|
120
|
125-143
|
|
Reverse
|
ACCGCAGGCACCTCTGTAAG
|
|
426-416+233-225
|
HPV 18 E1^4
|
Forward
|
GATCCAGAAGTACCAGTGAC
|
194
|
920-929+3434-3443
|
|
Reverse
|
GAGAAGTGGGTTGACAGGTC
|
|
3617-3598
|
HPV 18 L1
|
Forward
|
TCCTTCTGTGGCAAGAGTTGT
|
123
|
5657-5677
|
|
Reverse
|
CCACCTGCAGGAACCCTAAAA
|
|
5779-5759
|
HPV 52 E6
|
Forward
|
TTTGAGGATCCAGCAACAC
|
197
|
105-123
|
|
Reverse
|
TAGGCACATAATACACACGCC
|
|
302-282
|
HPV 52 E6*
|
Forward
|
TTTGAGGATCCAGCAACAC
|
128
|
105-123
|
|
Reverse
|
GACAAATTATACATCTCTCTTCG
|
|
510-502+216-224
|
HPV 52 E1^4
|
Forward
|
AGGACCCTGAAGTAACGAAG
|
150
|
868-879+3345-3352
|
|
Reverse
|
CTGGAGTCTGTGACGTCTGG
|
|
3482-3463
|
HPV 52 L1
|
Forward
|
ACTGTGTACCTGCCTCCTGTA
|
72
|
5670-5690
|
|
Reverse
|
GATGCTTGTGCGAGACACAT
|
|
5741-5722
|
HPV 58 E6
|
Forward
|
GAAACCACGGACATTGCATG
|
254
|
130-149
|
|
Reverse
|
GTGTTTGTTCTAATGTGTCTCC
|
|
383-362
|
HPV 58 E6*
|
Forward
|
GAAACCACGGACATTGCATG
|
109
|
130-149
|
|
Reverse
|
CAAATAATACATCTCAGATCGC
|
|
515-510+232-223
|
HPV 58 E1^4
|
Forward
|
GACCCTGAAGTGATCAAATATC
|
127
|
889-898+3358-3372
|
|
Reverse
|
GTGTTGTCTCTGGAGTCTGG
|
|
3471-3452
|
HPV 58 L1
|
Forward
|
CCTCCTGTGCCTGTGTCTAA
|
104
|
5682-5700
|
|
Reverse
|
GGATTGCCAACAGCCAAAAGT
|
|
5785-5765
|
Statistical analysis
Categorized clinical features such as gravidity, smoking history, usage of steroids or immunosuppressants according to HPV categories and CIN grades were evaluated using the Analysis of Variance. Other clinical features such as age and time from first detection of abnormal cytology and the expression levels of each transcriptome according to HPV types and CIN grades were analyzed using a Steel-Dwass test. The relationship between each HPV infection and positive ratio of each transcriptome was evaluated using the Cochran-Armitage trend test. Statistical analyses were performed with the JMP Pro software (13.0.0). p < 0.05 was considered significant. If the viral gene copy number was greater than 10 copies/L, the sample was considered positive for gene expression.