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Establishment and characterization of a human papillomavirus type 16–positive tonsillar carcinoma xenograft in BALB/c nude mice
Author(s) -
Letsolo Boitelo T.,
Faust Helena,
Ekblad Lars,
Wennerberg Johan,
Forslund Ola
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.23918
Subject(s) - nude mouse , tonsil , head and neck squamous cell carcinoma , cancer research , carcinoma , human papillomavirus , cancer , medicine , biology , pathology , head and neck cancer , virology
Background Among head and neck cancers, human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) is associated with tonsillar carcinomas. Despite this, no HPV16‐positive tonsillar cancer cell line has been established in nude mice. Methods Fresh tonsillar carcinoma biopsies were obtained from 23 patients and implanted subcutaneously into nude mice (BALB/c, nu/nu). Results After 7 months, one xenograft was established. The primary tumor harbored 2.7 copies (95% confidence interval = 2.4–2.9) of HPV16/cell and displayed 99.9% (7904/7906) nucleotide identity to HPV16 (EU118173.1). The xenograft showed increased methylation in two E2‐binding sites of the HPV16 genome. Both episomal and integrated HPV16 were detected in the original tumor and in 14 xenografts from the second passage. From this passage, a viral load of 6.4 copies/cell (range = 4.6–9.6) and 3.7 (range = 1.0–5.5) E7‐mRNA transcripts/HPV16‐genome were detected. Conclusion This xenograft represents the first established HPV16‐positive tonsillar tumor in nude mice and could provide an experimental system of HPV16‐positive tonsillar cancers. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38: 417–425, 2016