Prevalence of Antibodies Against Defined HPV Epitopes Among Incident Cases of Cervical Neoplasia: Current Status and Concepts

Abstract

Much of the recent discussion on HPV serology has focussed on the distinction between linear and conformational. epitopes, with the difference being that the conformational. epitopes are sensitive to conformational. changes, whereas the linear ones are not. In practice, this has amounted to that assays using immunoblotting or synthetic peptides are generally classified as linear epitope assays, whereas various other assays including immunofluorescence, immunoprecipitation and ELIS As using whole proteins are claimed to be conformational. epitope assays. In many respects, this distinction between linear and conformational. epitopes is misleading, since it erroneously implies that epitopes displayed in immunoblotting or in synthetic peptides are devoid of conformation and since it does not point out that assays using e.g. whole proteins will display both linear and conformational. epitopes. Furthermore, there exist no theoretical. grounds to assume that conformational. epitopes would be more specific than linear epitopes. On the contrary, conformational. epitopes are, by definition, more sensitive to conformational. change and assays based on such epitopes are therefore likely to have greater assay variability problems. Although there is convincing evidence demonstrating that intact HPV particles contain immunodominant and type-specific epitopes that are sensitive to conformational change^1,2, there are no grounds for extrapolation of these findings into believing that conformational. epitopes would be more immunodominant or type-specific also in other proteins.