ABSTRACT
We have identified a region of human papillomavirus type 6 (HPV-6) DNA that hybridizes with human cellular DNA containing no detectable HPV DNA sequences. The region of hybridization has been localized to a segment of the viral long control region between the end of the L1 open reading frame and the late polyadenylation signal and is likely contained within a 94-base-pair insertion at nucleotide 7350 which is present in the cloned HPV-6b DNA used for these studies. Restriction fragments of HPV-6 DNA from seven patients suggested that this insert was present in these naturally occurring viral genomes as well. The presence of this insert was confirmed by direct sequence analysis of polymerase chain reaction-amplified segments from four naturally occurring HPV-6 genomes. By analogy with other systems, this insert and surrounding sequences may function to destabilize the HPV-6 late mRNA.
