Arch Virol (1991) 116:221-233 _Archives vi rology © Springer-Verlag 1991 Printed in Austria Oligonucleotide primers for DNA amplification of the early regions 1, 6, and 7 from human papillomavirus types 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, and 33 M. Evander 1, E. Bod6n 2, L. Bjersing 3, E. Rylander 2, and G. Wadell 1 1 Department of Virology, University of UmeS, 2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,University Hospital Umegt, and 3 Department of Pathology, University of Umegt, Umegt, Sweden Accepted June 29, 1990 Summary. Human papillomavirus (HPV) type-specific sequences required for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) mediated amplification of HPV DNA se- quences are presented. One primer pair within the E1 open reading frame (ORF) was shared by HPV 6, HPV 11, HPV 16, and HPV 31, whereas the other primer pair within the E10RF was specific for HPV 16. Eight primer pairs from the E6 and E70RFs specifically detected HPV6, HPV 16, HPV 18, and HPV33 sequences. This system has been used for detection of HPV DNA in biopsies, cytological smears and sections of formalin-fixed tissues. Introduction The papillomaviruses, a heterogenous group of papovaviruses, are associated with benign squamous epithelial tumours in higher vertebrates [42]. There are at least 60 types of human papillomaviruses (HPVs) [ 12] but only certain HPVs are implicated as etiological agents in the development of malignant lesions of the genital tract I-4, 13, 16]. The two HPV types most frequently associated with clinical disease in the genital tract are HPV6 and HPV16. HPV6 is associated with condyloma acuminata, low grade dysplasias and to some extent laryngeal papillomas [11, 15, 28]. HPV 16 is associated with high grade dys- plasias, bowenoid papulosis, and Bowen's disease [13]. Three other types, HPV 18, HPV 31, and HPV 33 have also been associated with high grade dys- plasias in the genital tract 1-3, 4, 7, 8, 22]. In the majority of cervical tumors, some or all of the copies of the HPV genomes are found integrated into the host genome. The E6 and E70RFs have so far been found to be retained in these tumors [4, 24, 31]. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR), [29, 30], has been developed for amplification of DNA. We have evaluated the conditions for amplification of early expressed regions of HPV DNA by use of PCR.