Recombinant Human Papilloma Virus type 58 L1 protein (VLP)

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is associated with 99% of cervical cancers, and persistent HPV infection leads to the development of cervical cancer, with different high-risk HPV types showing geographic/ethnic variability, with HPV 58 ranking as the sixth or seventh most common cause of cervical cancer globally, but the third most common HPV type in East Asia. HPV 58 is found in 10% to 18% of cervical cancers in East Asia, but is rare elsewhere. The definition of HPV type is that the sequence difference of L1 genome is more than 10%, while the difference of variant pedigree and subline in complete genome is 1% to 10% and 0.5% to 1%, respectively. Great differences in evolutionary correlation and carcinogenicity were observed at the level of type and variation. In a multi-continental epidemiological study, HPV 58E7T20I/G63S variants are more commonly detected in East Asia, and the risk of cervical cancer is 7 to 9 times higher than in other regions, indicating that the virus mutation plays a key role in regulating its unique carcinogenic characteristics. These data strongly suggest that sequence variations at certain sites in the HPV genome can critically determine phenotypic characteristics, including carcinogenicity. The nine-valent vaccine currently available on the market covers a wide range of HPV types, including HPV 58, which can prevent 90% of cervical cancer infections from HPV types.

The HPV major capsid protein L1 has some very conserved regions that can be used for the design and development of vaccines against human papillomavirus infection due to their specific conformational epitopes and their ability to self-assemble into virus-like particles (VLPs). L1-VLP is an empty capsid produced by self-assembly of the pentamer of the major capsid protein L1, which has the same morphology and antigenicity as natural viral particles but does not contain viral DNA or oncogenic proteins. It is safe, highly immunogenic, provides the immune system with conformational epitopes identical to those of naturally occurring infectious viruses, induces both innate and acquired immune responses and produces high titers of virus-neutralizing antibodies. 22 non-synonymous mutations were found in the major capsid protein L1 of HPV 58. However, the function of these mutations and their effects on the conformational structure of epitopes and their binding affinity to monoclonal antibodies need to be further studied.

Figure 1. Geographic distribution of HPV 58 variants
(Source: Chen Z, et al. 2017)

Human papillomavirus type 58 L1 protein
Human papillomavirus 58 L1 protein
HPV 58 L1
HPV 58 major capsid protein L1