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Microbes & Immunity

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Diversity of human papillomavirus-16 L1 in

the Asian region: A comparative analysis of
sequences

Rana Ozdogan 1 , Muharrem Okan Cakir 2 , Gholam Hossein Ashrafi 2 , and
3
Ugur Bilge *
1 Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Life and Natural Sciences, Abdullah Gul
University, Kayseri, Turkey
2 Department of Biomolecular Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Pharmacy and Chemistry, Kingston
University London, United Kingdom
3 Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, Akdeniz University,
Antalya, Turkey

Abstract
Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a leading cause of several cancers, with
types 16 and 18 classified as high-risk. This study investigates the L1 capsid protein
of HPV16, a crucial target for Food Drug and Administration-approved vaccines,
by analyzing its nucleic acid and amino acid sequences to identify phylogenetic
relationships, sequence variations, and conserved functional elements. The study
utilizes sequences obtained from the National Center for Biotechnology Information
*Corresponding author: virus database to assess geographical clustering and evolutionary trends. Key regions,
Ugur Bilge including structural loops, nuclear localization signals, and viral attachment sites,
(ubilge@akdeniz.edu.tr) were examined for variability. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated distinct clustering
Citation: Ozdogan R, Cakir MO, patterns, particularly among sequences from Japan and Pakistan, indicating
Ashrafi GH, Bilge U. Diversity of potential regional influences on HPV-16 evolution. Despite observed sequence
HPV-16 L1 in the Asian region: variability, critical residues essential for viral entry remained conserved, suggesting
A comparative analysis of
sequences. Microbes & Immunity. evolutionary constraints on functionally significant domains. These findings offer
2025;2(2):53-63. insights into HPV-16 diversity in Asia and highlight the importance of continuous
doi: 10.36922/mi.8410 genomic surveillance for vaccine development and epidemiological assessments.
Received: January 4, 2025
Revised: February 17, 2025 Keywords: Human papillomavirus; HPV-16 L1; Phylogenetic analysis
Accepted: February 19, 2025
Published online: March 6, 2025
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s). 1. Introduction
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a significant risk factor for both men and
Creative Commons Attribution women, particularly women, worldwide. HPV is responsible for more than 300,000
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, cervical cancer-related deaths annually and is one of the most common viral infections
provided the original work is categorized under sexually transmitted infections by the World Health Organization
properly cited. (WHO). As of January 2024, there are 451 distinct references to HPV genome entries
1
Publisher’s Note: AccScience on papillomavirus episteme, a web-based database serving as an integrated resource for
Publishing remains neutral with papillomavirus genome sequences. Among these, only 12 types (HPV-16, 18, 31, 33,
2,3
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59) have been classified as carcinogenic by the International
affiliations. Agency for Research on Cancer. Of these, HPV-16 and 18 are the most common types,
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Volume 2 Issue 2 (2025) 53 doi: 10.36922/mi.8410