An arginine-rich polypeptide composition includes an arginine-rich polypeptide and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. Generally, the arginine-rich polypeptide has at least nine arginine residues that represent at least 10% of the amino acid residues in the polypeptide. The arginine-rich polypeptide may be used in a method of inhibiting a human papilloma virus (HPV) from binding to a cell, a method of inhibiting intracellular processing of human papilloma virus (HPV) by a cell, or a method of treating a subject having, or at risk of having, a human papilloma virus (HPV) infection.
