Neuenheimer Feld 280, 6900 Heidelberg, FRG Communicated by H.zur Hausen Transcription of human papillomavirus type 18 (HPV18) DNA in the human cervical carcinoma cell lines HeLa, C41 and SW756 was studied by nucleotide sequence analysis of HPV18-positive cDNA clones isolated from a HeLa, C41 and SW756 cDNA library, respectively, and the cDNA sequences were used to predict the potential encoded proteins. The cDNA clones from all three cell lines were found to be derived from virus-cell fusion transcripts in which 3'-terminal host cell sequences (different for each cell line) were spliced to 5'-tenminal exon sequences from the HPV18 E6-E7-E1 region.Three different types of cDNA clones can be distinguished according to the splicing patterns observed in the 5' tenminal HPV18 sequences. They carry as potential protein-coding regions the HPV18 specific open reading frames E6 and E6* (generated by splicing and identical with E6 up to the E6* splice junction), E7 and El (only in HeLa). Translation of specific cellular genes from the chimeric viral-cellular transcripts seems to be unlikely. The mapping of the 5'-ends of the virus-cell fusion transcripts indicates that transcription is initiated at a viral promoter. The similar patterns of HPV18 transcription in the three different cervical carcinoma cell lines suggest a functional role of HPV18 early genes for the malignant phenotype of these cells.

The ZFX gene on the human X chromosome is structurally similar to the ZFY gene, which may constitute the sex-determining signal on the human Y chromosome. ZFY and ZFX diverged from a common ancestral gene, as evidenced by similarities in their intron/exon organization and exon DNA sequences. The carboxy-terminal exons of ZFY and ZFX both encode 13 zinc fingers; 383 of 393 amino acid residues are identical, and there are no insertions or deletions. Thus, the ZFY and ZFX proteins may bind to the same nucleic acid sequences. ZFY and ZFX are transcribed in a wide variety of XY and (in the case of ZFX) XX cell lines. Transcription analysis of human-rodent hybrid cell lines containing "inactive" human X chromosomes suggests that ZFX escapes X inactivation. This result contradicts the "dosage/X-inactivation" model, which postulated that sex is determined by the total amount of functionally interchangeable ZFY and ZFX proteins.

The ZFY gene in the sex-determining region of the human Y chromosome encodes a protein with 13 zinc fingers, and may determine whether an embryo develops as a male or female. ZFX, a related gene on the human X chromosome, may also function in sex determination; it encodes a protein with a very similar zinc-finger domain and escapes X inactivation. ZFY and ZFX diverged from a common ancestral gene before the radiation of placental mammals, and retain a similar genomic organization. Analysis of complementary DNAs from the mouse Y-chromosomal homologues of ZFY indicates that these genes encode probable transcription activators. Here, we report that ZFX encodes a protein composed of a highly acidic amino-terminal domain, a basic putative nuclear-localization signal, and a carboxy-terminal zinc-finger domain. This combination of features, also found in the ZFY gene product, is typical of transcription activators. Alternative splicing generates ZFX transcripts encoding isoforms of 575 and 804 amino acids. These ZFX protein isoforms differ in the length of their acidic domains and may be functionally distinct.

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