Viral Detection

The focus of this chapter is the detection of DNA viruses. The emphasis is on amplification reactions that include reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), PCR, real-time RT-PCR, and real-time PCR methods. Amplification of the E6 and E7 oncoproteins of HPV16 is described in detail, and primers and probes that can be used to amplify these oncogenes are described. Techniques to quantify these oncogenes in infected human tissue specimens are presented, and analysis of data resulting from real-time PCR detection of the E6 and E7 oncogenes is discussed. Other methods for viral nucleic acid detection, including nested PCR amplification, ligase chain reaction, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), are also briefly discussed.