CapsuleWith the use of polymerase chain reaction, human papillomavirus and Chlamydia trachomatis were detected in 7.4 % and 1 % of placental samples from miscarriages, respectively. 2 Structured abstract and key wordsObjective: In order to determine the role of infections in miscarriages, chorionic villi from aborted material were subjected to cytogenetic evaluation and analysed for the presence of Chlamydia trachomatis, Ureaplasma urealyticum, Mycoplasma hominis, human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), adeno-associated virus (AAV) and human papillomaviruses (HPV).Design: Retrospective study. Setting: University hospital and academic research institution.Main Outcome Measure(s): Karyotyping and detection of bacterial and viral DNA by means of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in placenta specimens. Result(s):In 54 (50 %) of 108 samples the karyotype was normal, in 38 (35 %) samples it was abnormal and in 16 (15 %) samples karyotype was undetermined. No U. urealyticum, M. hominis, HCMV or AAV 2 DNA was detected, while C. trachomatis DNA was detected in one (1 %) and HPV DNA in eight (7 %) samples. No significant correlation of HPV positive findings with karyotype status was established. Conclusion(s):Our findings do not support a role of C. trachomatis, U. urealyticum, M. hominis, HCMV and AAV infections in miscarriages during the first trimester of pregnancy. However, further investigation should be made to determine a possible involvement of HPVs in the development of genetic abnormalities of the fetus, and in miscarriages.

1Objectives. Infection with oncogenic human papillomaviruses (HPV) is a prerequisite 2 for the development of cervical cancer. In many cases of cervical cancer and all cervical 3 cancer derived cell lines oncogenic HPV DNA is found to be integrated, indicating the 4 importance of integration in disease development. In this study, 176 HPV 16 positive 5 precancerous cervical lesions were analyzed for the physical state of viral genome to 6 determine the sites of integration into a host cell DNA and to evaluate the incidence of the 7 integration in different stages of cervical lesions. 8Methods. The detection of integrated papillomavirus sequences (DIPS) method in 9 combination with the amplification by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of E1/E2 region was 10 used to identify the physical state of HPV 16 genome. The site of integration within a host 11 cell genome was determined by sequencing of DIPS unusual sized amplicons. 12

Dipeptidyl peptidase III (DPP III) isolated from the thermophilic bacteria Caldithrix abyssi (Ca) is a two-domain zinc exopeptidase, a member of the M49 family. Like other DPPs III, it cleaves dipeptides from the N-terminus of its substrates but differently from human, yeast and Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (mesophile) orthologs, it has the pentapeptide zinc binding motif (HEISH) in the active site instead of the hexapeptide (HEXXGH). The aim of our study was to investigate structure, dynamics and activity of CaDPP III, as well as to find possible differences with already characterized DPPs III from mesophiles, especially B. thetaiotaomicron. The enzyme structure was determined by X-ray diffraction, while stability and flexibility were investigated using MD simulations. Using molecular modeling approach we determined the way of ligands binding into the enzyme active site and identified the possible reasons for the decreased substrate specificity compared to other DPPs III. The obtained results gave us possible explanation for higher stability, as well as higher temperature optimum of CaDPP III. The structural features explaining its altered substrate specificity are also given. The possible structural and catalytic significance of the HEISH motive, unique to CaDPP III, was studied computationally, comparing the results of long MD simulations of the wild type enzyme with those obtained for the HEISGH mutant. This study presents the first structural and biochemical characterization of DPP III from a thermophile.

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Background The variation of the most common Human papillomavirus (HPV) type found in cervical cancer, the HPV16, has been extensively investigated in almost all viral genes. The E1 gene variation, however, has been rarely studied. The main objective of the present investigation was to analyze the variability of the E6 and E1 genes, focusing on the recently identified E1-1374 ∧ 63nt variant. Methodology/Principal Findings Variation within the E6 of 786 HPV16 positive cervical samples was analyzed using high-resolution melting, while the E1-1374 ∧ 63nt duplication was assayed by PCR. Both techniques were supplemented with sequencing. The E1-1374 ∧ 63nt duplication was linked with the E-G350 and the E-C109/G350 variants. In comparison to the referent HPV16, the E1-1374 ∧ 63nt E-G350 variant was significantly associated with lower grade cervical lesions (p = 0.029), while the E1-1374 ∧ 63nt E-C109/G350 variant was equally distributed between high and low grade lesions. The E1-1374 ∧ 63nt variants were phylogenetically closest to E-G350 variant lineage (A2 sub-lineage based on full genome classification). The major differences between E1-1374 ∧ 63nt variants were within the LCR and the E6 region. On the other hand, changes within the E1 region were the major differences from the A2 sub-lineage, which has been historically but inconclusively associated with high grade cervical disease. Thus, the shared variations cannot explain the particular association of the E1-1374 ∧ 63nt variant with lower grade cervical lesions. Conclusions/Significance The E1 region has been thus far considered to be well conserved among all HPVs and therefore uninteresting for variability studies. However, this study shows that the variations within the E1 region could possibly affect cervical disease, since the E1-1374 ∧ 63nt E-G350 variant is significantly associated with lower grade cervical lesions, in comparison to the A1 and A2 sub-lineage variants. Furthermore, it appears that the silent variation 109T>C of the E-C109/G350 variant might have a significant role in the viral life cycle and warrants further study.