Dr. Timmins Flashcards
Potential targets for Viruses
- Simple genomes (bad)
- Very different from humans (good selectivity)
How do we treat viruses
- Host directed immune therapies
- Antiviral drugs
What are the downsides of antivirals
- Very few targets available
- Resistance can develop easily
- No “broad spectrum” antivirals available
What are the steps of a HIV life cycle
1) HIV fuses to host surface
2) HIV enters host cell
3) Viral DNA is formed by reverse transcriptase
4) Viral DNA fuses with host DNA
5) New Viral RNA is made
6/7) Viral RNA matures, leaves the host cell and is ready to infect new cells
Why do viruses NOT have efflux pumps?
-No electron transport chain
Bacterial Targets
- Mostly very different from us (Good selectivity)
- Bigger genomes= more targets (good)
- A lot of resistance (bad)
Mycobacterial resistance good/ bad news
- good = no plasmids to mediate resistance transfer
- bad = has a lot of resistance intrinsically
Fungal Targets
- Very similar to humans (Bad)
- Big genomes, but too similar to humans (Bad)
- Resistance mechanism to most agents (Bad)
- Most immunocompetent people are safe (good)
Fungal resistance to Echinocandins
-Mutations in FKS genes
Fungal resistance to Azoles
-Cyp51A gene inhibits drug binding
What led to a rapid increase in antifungal drugs in the 80s?
- The AIDS epidemic
- People were immunocompromised and getting sick all over the place!
Polyene MoA
- Insert themselves into the plasma membrane of fungi
- High affinity for ergosterol
- Cell becomes “leaky” and ions spill out
- The inside of the tunnel is polar (allowing for ions to flow through it)
What drives the selectivity and specificity of polyenes
- The number of double bonds and pi-pi stacking
- More double bonds = greater affinity for ergosterol
What are the benefits of using lipid AmB over the deoxycholate form?
- Less hepatotoxicity
- Less infusion reactions
- More stable
Which Lipid AmB looks like the death star
-L AmB (Ambisome)
Can you use AmB with an in-line filter
-No you dingus, AmB is too big to be able to pass though the in-line filter pores!
What is the MoA of Azoles
-Inhibits ergosterol synthesis by inhibiting 14 alpha demethylation
How does 14 alpha demethylation occur
- By 3 succesive aliphatic hydroxylations
- Followed by the elimination of formate and water