High-risk human papillomavirus E7 affects host keratinocyte gene expression

To investigate the extent of gene expression dysregulation by the human papillomavirus (HPV) oncoprotein E7, we performed global gene expression analysis on normal immortalized keratinocytes from skin (NIKS), NIKS cells maintaining the HPV16 or 18 episomes (NIKS-16, NIKS-18, respectively), and NIKS cells maintaining the HPV-16 episome deficient in E7 expression (NIKS-16ΔE7). NIKS cells and variants were cultured and harvested at three separate passages (n= 3). RNA was isolated and hybridized to Affymetrix chips for gene expression analysis. NIKS cells are HPV-negative control.