# Identifying HPV-host interactions using network-based analysis of preexisting transcriptomic data

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA · 2024 · $86,334

## Abstract

Infections with human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are the most common sexually transmitted infection in the US.
In addition to causing cervical and other anogenital cancers and a rising incidence of head and neck cancer,
HPVs are responsible for an estimated 5% of cancers worldwide.
Importantly, persistent infection, and not an acute infection, is the primary risk factor for (cervical) cancer
development. Thus, understanding the virus-host interplay that promotes or restricts viral persistence has
important implications for HPV biology and human cancers.
Until recently, it has been challenging to study the immediate early events of the HPV lifecycle following
infection and how these events contribute to initial genome amplification during the establishment phase and
long-term viral persistence. We used a single-cell genomics approach to identify cellular factors involved in
viral infection and persistence.
The R01, this diversity supplement proposal is associated with, explores how protein arginine N-
methyltransferase 1 (PRMT1) regulates RBM15 controlled m6a deposition on viral mRNA to regulate
alternative splicing throughout viral infection temporally. Amy Banka recently joined my lab to reanalyze large
published genomics datasets using gene coexpression networks. Specifically, by comparing transcriptomes of
HPV(+) cells along the progression from early infection to cancer progression, we aim to identify coexpression
networks that will illuminate how HPV rewires these cells throughout the viral life cycle. This approach may
identify new druggable targets or identify biomarkers to inform clinical practice.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11062078
- **Project number:** 3R01AI165638-02S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
- **Principal Investigator:** Koenraad Van Doorslaer
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $86,334
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2022-06-07 → 2024-10-14

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11062078

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11062078, Identifying HPV-host interactions using network-based analysis of preexisting transcriptomic data (3R01AI165638-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11062078. Licensed CC0.

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