Lecture 17- HIV

Question 1

HIV life cycle steps

Answer 1

1) HIV gp120 binds to helper T-cell CD4 surface molecule
2) conformational change allows the viral and CD4 membranes to fuse, emptying the viral contents into the cell
3) Reverse transcriptase converts viral RNA into viral DNA
4) The viral DNA travels into host cells nucleus, where viral protein ‘integrase’ integrates the DNA into the hosts DNA
5) Transcription in the cell means that viral RNA is produced from the cell for the integrated DNA
6) Assembly of the RNA into viral proteins
7) Budding of immature HIV proteins, cleavage by protease converts them to mature HIV particles

Question 2

ART in HIV therapy

Answer 2

‘Anti-Retroviral Treatment’
combo of three different drugs with at least 2 different targets. This doesn’t cure HIV but instead keeps it at a manageable level
Drug Targets (at different point of the viral life cycle)
- Fusion (enfurvitide)
- Reverse Transcriptase (tenofovir)
- Integrase (raltegravir)
- Protease (atazanavir)