1. Antivirals Flashcards
What is an antiviral?
A drug that is effective against viruses by killing them/suppressing their ability to replicate.
How many people were living with AIDS worldwide in 2012? How many were newly infected?
- 3 million
- 2.3 million newly infected
What happens to CD4+ T cells after infection with HIV?
Initially decrease (~6 weeks)
- then increase
- then gradually decrease over years»_space; death
What happens to the number of copies of HIV RNA once infected?
Initially increase rapidly (~6 weeks)
- then decrease
- years later increase again»_space; death
What type of molecule tends to cause acute viral infections?
RNA
-don’t survive well
Give some examples of acute viral infections.
Influenza, measles, mumps, hep A
What type of molecule tends to cause chronic viral infections?
DNA
-relatively stable
How is HIV different from most chronic viral infections?
Caused by single-stranded RNA, but is copied to DNA during replication
What are the 2 types of chronic infection?
Latent (lying dormant)
Persistent (continuing to exist)
Give some examples of latent chronic viral infections.
Herpes simplex, cytomegalovirus
Give some examples of persistent chronic viral infections.
HIV, hep B, hep C
What do viruses consist of?
Nucleic acid (DNA/RNA)
Protein (coat/enzymes)
+/- Lipid envelope
What sort of parasite are viruses?
Intracellular
-they only replicate in cells
What are the 2 types of proteins that most viruses are composed of?
STRUCTURAL (core proteins - GAG, envelope proteins - ENV)
NON-STRUCTURAL (enzymes -POL)
What are the stages of viral replication? (8)
- Virus attaches to cell (receptor)
- Cell entry
- Virus uncoating
- Early protein production (viral enzymes)
- Replication
- Late transcription/translation (viral structural proteins)
- Virus assembly
- Virus release
Do most viruses kill the cells they infect?
No, they get released and»_space; infect other cells
How do we use the proteins that viruses encode to treat viral infections?
They are unique proteins, so they are targets for molecular inhibition (anti-viral activity)
What are the reactions that polmerases catalyse? (4)
- DNA to DNA
- DNA to RNA
- RNA to RNA
- RNA to DNA
Where are DNA to DNA/RNA polmerases found?
Eukaryotes
DNA viruses
Where are RNA to RNA polmerases found?
RNA viruses
-not eukaryotes