@article{mbs:/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/0022-1317-82-1-201, author = "Webster, Kenneth and Taylor, Anna and Gaston, Kevin", title = "Oestrogen and progesterone increase the levels of apoptosis induced by the human papillomavirus type 16 E2 and E7 proteins", journal= "Journal of General Virology", year = "2001", volume = "82", number = "1", pages = "201-213", doi = "https://doi.org/10.1099/0022-1317-82-1-201", url = "https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/0022-1317-82-1-201", publisher = "Microbiology Society", issn = "1465-2099", type = "Journal Article", abstract = "Human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 infects the genital tract and is generally acknowledged to be a causative agent of cervical cancer. HPV infection alone is not sufficient to induce cervical cancer and other factors such as steroid hormones are thought to play a role in the establishment and/or progression of this disease. The HPV-16 E2 protein is required for virus replication and modulates viral gene expression whereas the HPV-16 E7 protein is required for cell transformation. We and others have shown that both the E2 and E7 proteins can induce apoptotic cell death in HPV-transformed and non-HPV transformed cell lines. Here we show that the steroid hormones oestrogen and progesterone can both increase the levels of E2- and E7-induced apoptosis. The oestrogen metabolite 16α-hydroxyoestrone also increases E2- and E7-induced cell death and the dietary component indole-3-carbinol, which reduces the formation of 16α-hydroxyoestrone from oestrogen, blocks the effects of oestrogen. Thus the metabolism of oestrogen to 16α-hydroxyoestrone appears to be required for the effects of this hormone on E2- and E7-induced cell death. We also show that the oestrogen receptor antagonist 3-hydroxytamoxifen blocks the effects of oestrogen on E2- and E7-induced cell death, whereas the anti-progesterone RU486 blocks the effects of both progesterone and oestrogen. We discuss these results in terms of the origin and progression of cervical cancer.", }