THE STRUCTURE, FUNCTION, AND REGULATION OF PAPILLOMAVIRAL GENES IN INFECTION AND CERVICAL-CANCER

This chapter summarizes developments in the understanding of the molecular biology of papillomaviral infection, with emphasis on the control of critical events in human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and cervical cancer at the level of viral gene transcription. It discusses papillomaviral replication systems and the genes involved in viral replication, and briefly reviews the interactions between viral and cellular proteins involved in neoplastic transformation. The chapter also describes cellular and viral factors involved in the control of papillomaviral gene expression, and speculates how they jointly interact to direct the expression of viral replication and transformation genes in active infection, viral latency, and cervical cancer. Progress in studies on the function of HPV genes not only has provided new insights on the role of HPV infection in cervical carcinogenesis, but also has established the molecular biology of genital HPVs as an exciting model for investigations on the molecular mechanisms of cell transformation, cell cycle control and transcriptional gene regulation. © 1994, Academic Press Inc.