Human papillomavirus integration induces oncogenic host gene fusions in oropharyngeal cancers

HPV integration disrupts host genomic structure and expression, but whether these alterations promote cancer development remains unclear. Multiple genomic analyses of oropharyngeal cancers identified several host gene fusions, including recurrent FGFR3-TACC3 fusions, expressed from rearranged genomic loci adjacent to HPV integration sites. Evolutionary modeling implicated integration of virus concatemers into the host genome as a common initiating event in fusion formation. Co-expression of HPV16 E6/E7 and FGFR3-TACC3, but neither alone, was sufficient for tumor development in both xenograft and syngeneic mouse models and led to unique transcriptional programs implicated in carcinogenesis. FGFR3-TACC3 expression decreased the ubiquitination and degradation of E6 and E7, thereby increasing oncoprotein abundance. We conclude that expression of HPV16 oncoproteins and host gene fusions generated from HPV integration sites can be sufficient for cancer development.

Type: Cancer Genomics
Archiver: European Genome-Phenome Archive (EGA)

4 Datasets

Click on a Dataset ID in the table below to learn more, and to find out who to contact about access to these data

Dataset ID	Description	Technology	Samples
EGAD50000001302	ONT whole-genome sequencing data for "HPV integration induces gene fusions" . We sequenced five HPV-positive head and neck cancer samples using Oxford Nanopore platform. The sequences was submitted in fastq format.	PromethION	5
EGAD50000001303	RNA-seq data for "HPV integration induces gene fusions" We performed RNA-seq analysis of five HPV+ head and neck cancer samples using Illumina short reads. Sequenced are submitted in bam format. We also sequenced one samples with pacBio long reads, and the reads are submitted in fastq format.	Sequel II	5
EGAD50000001304	pacBio whole-genome sequencing data for "HPV integration induces gene fusions" We performed long read whole-genome sequencing on four HPV+ head and neck cancer samples using pacBio HiFi. The sequence reads were submitted in fastq format.	Sequel II	4
EGAD50000001305	Illumina whole-genome sequencing data for "HPV integration induces gene fusions" We performed short read whole-genome sequencing of five HPV+ head and neck cancer samples using Illumina. The reads are submitted in bam or fastq file format.	Illumina NovaSeq 6000	5