Genital Warts

The shape and structure of hpv has made it possible for the virus to infect the skin and mucus membrane cells and make them multiply abnormally. This in turn leads to the formation of warts and cancer in the long run. There are good preventive measures available now in the form of pap smears ans vaccines against hpv.

Papillomavirus or hpv is classified as part of the Papovaviridae family of double-stranded DNA tumor viruses. There are about 100 identified papillomaviruses that infect humans. The symptoms of hpv range from benign warts to invasive cancers, depending on the type of human papillomavirus (hpv) and several other factors. It is important to study the shape and structure of hpv viruses to understand the way they infect and cause warts and cancers in humans. Recently, HPV- 16, 18, and other high-risk HPVs have been implicated as the cause of cervical carcinoma, the second most frequent cancer in women worldwide. It is also a major cause of death in countries that lack screening programs.

HPV-16 accounts for 50-60% of all cervical cancer cases and HPV-18 for 10-12% of all cervical cancers. Cancer caused by HPV-18 is often leads to rapidly progressing disease and death. High-risk HPVs also play a role in cancers of the prostate, bladder, anus, penis, throat, food pipe, oral cavity, and skin. Current treatment options for HPV lesions do not specifically target HPV infection, resulting in treatment failures and disease recurrence and/or progression. This makes the study of the structure and shape of hpv even more important.

All types of hpv have an affintiy for epithelial cells of skin and mucous membranes. This also explains the peculiar symptoms of hpv. It has a gene pool composed of two types of genes - early and late. These genes are central to determining the structure and shape of hpv. Early genes are involved in viral DNA replication, viral gene transcription, and cellular transformation, and late genes which form the viral capsid - which is the protective capsule for the virus. HPV episomes are the structures of the virus which associate with the body’s cells. The primary viral proteins expressed in the skin or mucus membrane cells are E1 and E2. E1 is involved in all steps of replication initiation which ensures that more copies of the virus are made. The protein is highly conserved among papillomaviruses. E1 requires interactions with E2 to block non-specific interactions. These two proteins will ensure that a large number of molecules are produced within the cells the virus has infected.

The shape and structure of hpv viruses ensures that it can infect cells and rapidly multiply. The cells which are infected tend to multiply abnormally causing warts to form. This unnatural multiplication of cells then becomes uncontrolled. The infection then progresses to cancer.
The two preventive measures now available against HPV are pap smears and vaccines. Women who receive annual pap smears greatly reduce their risk in an HPV infection developing into cervical cancer. In this test a sample of cervical tissue is removed from the cervix so that it can be examined for any irregularities. If irregular cells are found this is a strong indicator that HPV is present. The recent introduction of an HPV vaccine offers a better preventive measure against the development of cervical cancer in women.

Karl Dorads - GenitalWartsSite.com