Can established cultured papilloma cells harbor bovine papillomavirus?

Papillomaviruses have been reported to be very difficult to grow in cell culture. Also, there are no descriptions of cell cultures from lesions of bovine cutaneous papillomatosis, with identification of different bovine papilloma virus (BPV) DNA sequences. In the present report, we describe primary cell cultures from samples of cutaneous lesions (warts). We investigated the simultaneous presence of different BPV DNA sequences, comparing the original lesion to different passages of the cell cultures and to peripheral blood. BPV 1, 2 and 4 DNA sequences were found in lesion samples, and respective cell cultures and peripheral blood, supporting our previous hypothesis of the possible activity of these sequences in different samples and now also showing how they can be maintained in different passages of cell cultures.