Human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) infects anogenital epithelia and is the etiological agent of cervical cancer. We showed previously that HPV16 infection regulates the key splicing/alternative splicing factor SF2/ASF and that virus late transcripts are extensively alternatively spliced. hnRNP A1 is the antagonistic counterpart of SF2/ASF in alternative splicing. We show here that hnRNP A1 is also up-regulated during differentiation of virus-infected epithelial cells in monolayer and organotypic raft culture. Taken together with our previous data on SF2/ASF, this comprises the first report of HPV-mediated regulation of expression of two functionally related cellular proteins during epithelial differentiation. Further, using electrophoretic mobility shift assays and UV crosslinking we demonstrate that hnRNP A1 binds the HPV16 late regulatory element (LRE) in differentiated HPV16 infected cells. The LRE has been shown to be important in temporally controlling virus late gene expression during epithelial differentiation. We suggest that increased levels of these cellular RNA processing factors facilitate appropriate alternative splicing necessary for production of virus late transcripts in differentiated epithelial cells.

Antibiotic resistance of microorganisms is a serious health problem for both humans and animals. Infection of these bacteria may result in therapy failure, leading to high mortality rates. During an early intervention program process, the Sea Turtle Conservation Center of Thailand (STCCT) has faced high mortality rates due to bacterial infection. Previously, investigation of juvenile turtle carcasses found etiological agents in tissue lesions. Further determination of sea water in the turtle holding tanks revealed a prevalence of these causative agents in water samples, implying association of bacterial isolates in rearing water and infection in captive turtles. In this study, we examined the antibiotic resistance of bacteria in seawater from the turtle holding tank for a management plan of juvenile turtles with bacterial infection. The examination was carried out in three periods: 2015 to 2016, 2018, and 2019. The highest isolate numbers were resistant to beta-lactam, whilst low aminoglycoside resistance rates were observed. No gentamicin-resistant isolate was detected. Seventy-nine isolates (71.17%) were resistant to at least one antibiotic. Consideration of resistant bacterial and antibiotic numbers over three sampling periods indicated increased risk of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to sea turtle health. Essentially, this study emphasizes the importance of antibiotic-resistant bacterial assessment in rearing seawater for sea turtle husbandry.