Intrabody strategies for the treatment of human papillomavirus-associated disease

Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are associated with a variety of epithelial lesions, including benign genital warts and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. Both cause significant morbidity in the general population, with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia progressing to cervical cancer in a subset of women who cannot resolve their infection. At present, there are no antiviral agents for the treatment of genital HPV infections, with many lesions requiring surgical intervention. Although other approaches are available for the treatment of genital warts, HPV infection cannot usually be cured and lesion recurrence is often a problem. A growing understanding of the molecular biology of HPV infection has identified several viral protein functions that may serve as drug targets. Among these are the HPV E1 and E2 proteins, which are necessary for viral genome replication and partitioning, and the E6 and E7 proteins, which are necessary for cell proliferation and apoptotic inhibition. With the exception of E1, these...