FIGURE 1.

Roles of Brd4 in the HPV infectious cycle. The upper diagram shows the differentiated layers of a stratified epithelium. HPV accesses the basal cells through a microabrasion where it initiates a persistent infection. The viral genome is maintained as an extrachromosomal element within these cells and is partitioned to daughter cells by association with host chromosomes. As the infected cells differentiate, the viral genome amplifies to a high copy number in nuclear foci and is subsequently packaged into virions. The virions are shed from the surface of the epithelium in squames. The lower diagram shows the different stages of viral replication. The roles of Brd4 in the HPV infectious cycle are shown in purple boxes.