Is placental tissue protein 17b/TIP47 a new factor in cervical cancer genesis?

We identified novel members of the placental tissue protein 17 (PP17) protein family which consists of different-size variants of PP17; cDNAs of PP17a and PP17b variants have also been cloned and sequence analyzed. By Western-blot analysis in cervical carcinoma tissues we found overexpression of PP17b. Compared to healthy controls a mean five-fold increase in the amount of PP17b was also detected in the sera of untreated cervical carcinoma patients, which declined after radical operations. In our recent findings, in sera of inoperable cervical carcinoma patients, we also found elevated PP17b levels which did not change after irradiation. By Northern-blot analyses we confirmed PP17b overexpression in cervical carcinoma tissues and also the alternative splicing of PP17 mRNAs in various normal human tissues. Presently, the amino acid sequence of TIP47--a mannose-6-phosphate receptor cargo selection device--turned out to be identical to that of PP17b. Due to its oncodevelopmental function, PP17b/TIP47 is more than likely to be connected to HSV-2 infection, which is probably one of the main etiopathogenic agents of cervical carcinoma along with the HPV virus, and may open a new trend in the research of pathological processes in human uterine cervical cancer.