Virology: A marker for a cancer-causing virus
Wednesday, February 13, 2013 - 08:30
in Health & Medicine
(Phys.org)—Depending on the strain, or genotype, of the human papillomavirus (HPV) (see image), the lesions it causes can range from relatively benign to cancer-causing. Differentiating between lesions caused by low-risk and high-risk viral genotypes, however, is difficult. Françoise Thierry at the A*STAR Institute of Medical Biology in Singapore and co-workers have now identified proteins that could be used as reliable, sensitive markers to diagnose infections with high-risk types of HPV.