Using HPV as a model, we set up an in vitro infection assay and infected a panel of representative cell lines with HPV-PsVs that were composed of the L1/L2 envelope proteins of HPV18 (as the majority of the HPV positive OSCC biopsies were infected with HPV18) as well as HPV16 (being the most common carcinogenic HPV type worldwide [62,63] and have been reported to be associated with oesophageal cancer [11,17,18]). Here, PROS1 is linked to carcinoma of esophagus.