Cell-mediated immune response to human papillomavirus 16 E7 peptide pools in patients with cervical neoplasia

Objective. To identify characteristics of the cell-mediated immune (CMI) response to human papillomavirus-16 (HPV) E7 viral peptide pools to help the formulation of therapeutic vaccines. Design. Prospective study. Population. Korean women. Setting. University hospital. Methods. From December 2008 to August 2010, 33 HPV-16-positive patients, seven patients exhibiting a high-risk HPV infection other than HPV-16 with grade 2/3 cervical intraepithelial neoplasm (CIN2/3), and nine healthy control donors were enrolled. Main Outcome Measures. CMI response to synthetic HPV-16 E7 overlapping peptide pools using the IFN-Î ELISPOT assay. Results. The E7 sequence comprising amino acids 16-55 was a major immunogenic region. The CMI response to HPV-16 E7 is highly type-specific. The follow-up CMI response may last longer than expected after the lesion is resected. Conclusions. We found that the E7 sequence comprising amino acids 16-55 is a major immunogenic region that is critical for the T-cell-mediated immune response with CIN2/3 or cervical cancer. The identification of CMI responses to HPV-16 E7 peptide pools may provide insight into therapeutic vaccine trials for the control of HPV-associated diseases.