Phenotypic effect of the mutations H78Y and L83V in the E6 protein of human papillomavirus.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 variants can differ in their oncogenic potential. Here, we investigated the effect of the amino acid substitutions H78Y and L83V in the E6 oncoprotein of HPV16 on early immune escape and p53 degradation in vitro. Although E6 inhibits the RIG-I-IRF-3-IFN-β pathway, this inhibition was not affected by the H78Y substitution. We found that the L83V mutation did not significantly affect p53 and p21 expression, cell migration and proliferation, or resistance to apoptosis. We therefore conclude that the H78Y and L83V substitutions in E6 had no phenotypic effect on early immune escape and p53 degradation, respectively, in our model.