Characterization and comparative analysis of phosphorylation patterns in HPV18 and HPV11 E1 helicases: Implications...

The genome of human papillomaviruses (HPVs) encodes the E1 replication factor, whose biological activities are regulated by cellular protein kinases. Here, the phosphorylation pattern of the E1 helicase of oncogenic mucosotropic HPV18 was investigated both in vitro and in vivo. Four serine residues located in a short peptide within a localization regulatory region were found to be phosphorylated in both experimental settings. We demonstrate that this peptide is targeted in vitro by various protein kinases, including CK2, PKA, and CKD2/cyclin A/B/E complexes. Through point mutagenesis, we show that phosphorylation of this region is essential for E1 subcellular localization, the interaction of E1 with the E2 protein, and replication of the HPV18 genome. Furthermore, we demonstrate the functional conservation of this phosphorylation across the E1 proteins of the low-risk mucosotropic HPV11 and high-risk cutaneotropic HPV5. These findings provide deeper insights into the phosphorylation-mediated regulation of biological activities of the E1 protein.