Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 tat gene enhances human papillomavirus early gene expression

To investigate the possible direct/indirect role of Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as a cofactor in human papillomavirus (HPV) oncogenesis, cotransfection experiments were carried out in which a recombinant plasmid containing the HPV16 long control region (LCR) linked to the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene was cotransfected into cultured cells with a plasmid expressing HIV-1 Tat protein. Tat expression efficiency and transactivation activity were evaluated in different cell lines by cotransfecting plasmids containing the HIV tat gene and HIV LTR-driven CAT-coding sequences. HeLa and CaSki cell lines represented the most appropriate recipient cells for Tat-directed transactivation of both the HIV LTR and the HPV LCR promoters. Furthermore, HIV tat was transfected into HeLa cells (containing 10-20 copies per cell of HPV18), and HPV18 E7 protein expression was evaluated by a radioimmunoprecipitation assay using polyclonal antibodies against the E7 protein. Our results show that the Tat protein can transactivate the HPV LCR and increase HPV18 E7 expression in HeLa cells.