HPV entry into cells.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted virus responsible for the development of cervical cancer, anal cancer, head and throat cancers, as well as genital area warts. A major focus of current HPV research is on preventing the virus from entering a cell and transferring its genetic material to the nucleus, thus potentially preventing the development of cancer. Although the available HPV vaccines are extremely successful, approximately 15 additional cancer-causing HPVs have been identified that the vaccines do not protect against. Therefore, roughly 150,000 cancer cases will not be prevented annually with the current vaccines. Research efforts focused on the basic cell biology of HPV infection have a goal of identifying common infectious events that may lead to inexpensive vaccines or anti-virals to prevent infection by most, if not all, HPVs. In this review we attempt to summarize what is known regarding the process of HPV binding, entry, and intracellular trafficking.