Genomic cloning and characterization of the nonoccupied allele corresponding to the integration site of human papillomavirus type 16 DNA in the cervical cancer cell line SiHa.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 DNA sequences have been found integrated into the host cell genome in a large number of cervical tumors and cell lines derived therefrom. In this study, we have cloned and analyzed the nonoccupied allele corresponding to the integration site of HPV-16 in the cervical cancer cell line SiHa. Our mapping analyses revealed an approximately 7.8-kb deletion of cellular DNA upon viral integration. Computer analysis of 2.3 kb of DNA sequences from the deleted genomic region as well as 1.0 kb of sequences upstream of the viral integration site showed no significant homology to any known human sequences. DNase I mapping experiments on native chromatin demonstrated the existence of two hypersensitive sites in both the HPV-16-containing and nonoccupied alleles located approximately 1.1 and 1.7 kb upstream of the viral integration site. This suggests that viral integration occurred close to putative regulatory sequences and that recombination with host cellular DNA was not followed by a reorganization of the chromatin structure upstream of the integration site. Nuclear run-on and RT-PCR experiments showed HPV-specific transcription spanning the E2, E4, E5, and L1/L2 open reading frames (ORFs) located upstream of the HPV-16 regulatory region (URR). Taken together, our data suggest that the cellular DNA region upstream of the HPV-16 integration site in the SiHa cell line contains regulatory elements affecting transcription of HPV-16 ORFs located upstream of the HPV-16 URR.