Bovine papillomavirus gene expression and inflammatory pathway activation vary between equine sarcoid tumour subtypes

Nicholas Parkinson*, Abby Ward, Alexandra Malbon, Richard Reardon, Padraig Kelly

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

Equine sarcoids are common non-metastasising skin tumours in horses, associated with bovine papillomavirus (BPV) infection. Six subtypes are recognised (occult, verrucose, nodular, fibroblastic, mixed and malevolent lesions), with variable clinical behaviour. The pathophysiology underlying varying tumour phenotype is poorly understood, and previous data on associations with viral load have been conflicting. To better understand this
clinical variation, we investigated associations between tumour subtype and viral load, viral early protein gene expression, and expression of 10 host genes by quantitative polymerase chain reaction in 27 sarcoids and 5 normal skin samples. Viral DNA copy number did not differ between subtypes but was significantly higher in animals with fewer tumours. Expression of BPV E2 and E6 was higher in occult lesions compared to fibroblastic or nodular lesions, while E5 expression was higher in previously-treated lesions. Of the host genes, only IL6 and
IL1B differed between subtypes, with higher expression in fibroblastic lesions, while IL10 and CCL5 were elevated compared to skin in all lesion types, and elevations in TNF and TGFB1 were significant for occult lesions only. Expression of TLR9, ATR , VEGFA and PTGS2 in sarcoids was not significantly different from normal skin, suggesting differences between BPV and human papillomavirus tumorigenesis. Results for BPV viral load and gene expression differed from previous reports and are insufficient to explain the spectrum of tumour phenotypes. Activation of both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory immune pathways in sarcoids could influence tumour growth and effective immune responses, and the contribution of specific infiltrating immune cells requires further investigation.
Original languageEnglish
Article number110838
Pages (from-to)1-9
Number of pages9
JournalVeterinary Immunology and Immunopathology
Volume277
Early online date1 Oct 2024
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 1 Oct 2024

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • Horse
  • Bovine papillomavirus
  • Interleukins
  • Tumour microenvironment

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Bovine papillomavirus gene expression and inflammatory pathway activation vary between equine sarcoid tumour subtypes'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this