4- Viral pathogens: classification, biology, diseases - II Flashcards
How is the viral load determined?
➝ RT-PCR
What leads to AIDS?
➝ inexorable depletion of CD4 cells
What has HIV been adapted to do?
➝ give a very long period of infection
What is the viral load set point?
minimum number of HIV particles you can have without the immune system detecting it but the virus still replicating
How do HIV+ people die?
➝opportunistic infections
What must viruses do to survive?
➝ evade immune responses
How do viruses avoid being killed by immune cells?
➝ they replicate inside the immune cells whose function is to recognise and kill infected cells
What is the advantage for a virus to replicate inside immune cells?
➝ hides virus from immune cells
➝ inhibits immune cell function
What does inhibition of immune cell function allow?
➝ allows other pathogens to replicate in the virus infected hosts
➝ so disease occurs
What are permissive T cells?
➝ have CD4 on cell surface
➝T cells in which the virus can replicate
What % of T cells are permissive and non-permissive?
➝ 95% non-permissive
➝ 5% permissive
Describe what happens when HIV enters a non-permissive CD4 cell?
➝ the virus enters but doesn’t replicate
➝ accumulation of incomplete reverse transcripts
➝ detection by IFI16 DNA sensor
➝ IFI16 activates the innate antiviral and inflammatory responses
➝ IFI16 inflammasome assembly
➝ Inflammasome response which activates caspase-1 and pyroptosis occurs
➝ cell death and excretion of all the inflammatory factors
➝ this warns other cells that there is some type of infection
What happens in a permissive CD4 T-cell?
➝ the virus enters the cell and replicates ➝ processive reverse transcription ➝ Evading host detection ➝ double stranded DNA ➝ infection of CD4 T cell ➝ Activates caspase-2 ➝apoptosis occurs
What three viral proteins are involved in evading the immune response to virus replication?
➝ VPR
➝ VIF
➝ NEF
In permissive cells what is activated when there is foreign DNA in the cell?
➝ caspase-3 is activated which is a mediator of apoptosis