Facile and direct detection of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA in cells using loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP)

Human papillomavirus (HPV)-mediated cancers, particularly cervical and oropharyngeal cancer, lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide each year. Simple, straightforward, and cost-effective detection of HPV DNA from patients with these malignancies or at risk for developing cancer can improve outcomes for patients, serving as a tool for early detection, monitoring treatment response, and assessment of cancer recurrence. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is a simple and robust method for the detection and amplification of DNA in a single tube, utilizing the Bst strand-displacing DNA polymerase. We developed a workflow utilizing LAMP for the visual detection of HPV DNA in oral rinses. We demonstrate that LAMP is able to easily discriminate between two of the high-risk HPV subtypes, HPV16 and HPV18. We then utilized LAMP to visually detect HPV DNA directly from cells in oral rinses, mimicking a clinical inspired scenario of detecting HPV DNA in clinical samples. Our results suggest that LAMP is a robust, colorimetric assay method for the detection of HPV DNA in complex cellular samples, and further development is warranted to bring LAMP into the clinic.