Otago researchers probe HPV’s manipulation of immune system
Otago researchers probe HPV’s manipulation of immune system
University of Otago researchers have gained fresh insights into how one of the main viruses that cause cervical cancer evades its hosts’ immune systems.
Their findings, which are published in the international journal Scientific Reports, suggest that a protein known as E7, produced by a high-risk type of human papillomavirus (HPV16), may be the key player in suppressing the body’s immune response to the virus.
While most people with an HPV infection will clear the virus from their bodies within two years, 10-20 per cent of those infected will fail to do so and become at much higher risk of developing cervical cancer.
