Background
Cervical cancer is an abnormal growth of cervical tissue epithelial cells due to persistent human papilloma virus (HPV) infection. Cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) can be naturally and spontaneously infected with M. fascicularis Papillomavirus Type 3 (MfPV3), a virus that is phylogenetically closely related to human oncogenic HPV (HPV‐16 and HPV‐34), and therefore a potentially beneficial for modeling HPV disease. This study aims to evaluate the expression of the integrin alpha 6 (ITGα6) receptor in cynomolgus monkeys spontaneously infected with MfPV3, which this receptor also found in human infected with HPV.
Methods
The study was done on archived Formalin‐fixed Paraffin‐Embedded (FFPE) samples of uterine and cervix tissue of cynomolgus monkeys. Immunohistochemistry was also performed to quantify the expression levels of ITGα6.
Results
The results showed 80% of the samples positive Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia (CIN) and increased expression of ITGα6 significantly in Positive‐MfPV3 group than negative‐MfPV3 group.
Conclusions
This indicated the potential of cynomolgus monkeys as a spontaneous oncogenesis model of PV infection type.