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Novel screening assay may aid in development of HPV cure
Findings recently published in PLOS Pathogens indicate that a new drug screening platform may aid in the identification of possible drug targets for HPV.
“To date, at least 202 HPVs have been characterized, but studies suggest that the true number is considerably higher. Regardless of being studied for decades, there is still no effective cure for an ongoing HPV infection,” Mart Toots, PhD, of the Institute of Technology at the University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia, and colleagues wrote. “Although no effective HPV inhibitors have been developed, several compounds and targets have been analyzed.”
Toots and colleagues engineered HPV genomes, adding “reporter genes,” which coded for bioluminescent proteins to allow researchers to monitor viral growth. The reporter genes allowed researchers to use a method known as high-throughput screening, which allowed Toots and colleagues to test the effects of a large number of chemicals on viral growth, thereby identifying possible candidates for drug research. The system took the entire HPV genome into account, as well as all three stages of the viral life cycle.
The researchers then demonstrated the assay by screening more than 1,000 compounds using HPV grown in human tissue. Toots and colleagues wrote that “at least” five novel inhibitors blocked the function of Tdp1 and PARP1, two cellular proteins that have been identified as being essential for HPV replication.
“We are confident that the developed HPV drug screening assay system will allow [researchers] to identify several different novel drug targets and small molecule drugs,” Toots and colleagues said in a press release accompanying the study. “These could be used effectively for elimination of a cutaneous and mucosal low-risk and high-risk HPV infections, therefore addressing serious unmet medical needs in society, like benign and malignant HPV–positive epithelial tumors.” – by Andy Polhamus
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.