Exam 1 Flashcards
(277 cards)
How many people infected by HIV worldwide?
~76 Million
How does HIV spread?
Through bodily fluids
What is HIV?
Intracellular parasite
Cells vulnerable to HIV?
Macrophage cells, effector helper T cells, memory helper T cells
What does HIV latch on to on the outside of the cells?
CD4 and CCR5 Receptors
Why is HIV difficult to treat?
Hard to find drugs that interrupt the viral life cycle but not the host cell’s life cycle
How does the body respond to HIV infection?
Destroys virion in bloodstream, kills infected T cells and macrophages
What is AIDS?
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
When does AIDS occur after infection?
~10 years
How does HIV cause AIDS?
The immune system begins to collapse and can no longer fend off a number of opportunistic viruses, bacteria, and fungi
What is AZT?
Reverse transcriptase inhibitor that prevents HIV from reproducing
How does AZT work?
It inserts itself (azidothymidine) in thymidine’s place in growing DNA strand, stops transcription
Why doesn’t AZT effect our own transcriptase?
Our cells are more selective and will not choose the AZT in place of T
Why does AZT fail in the long run?
Natural mutations in HIV that are more selective (don’t pick AZT over T) will increase in abundance as all of the ones that AZT worked on die out
Coreceptor Inhibitors
Block HIV from attaching to cells
Entry/Fusion Inhibitors
Bar entry into host cell
RT Inhibitors
Inhibit reverse transcriptase by mimicking normal building blocks of DNA or interfere with bonding site
Integrase Inhibitors
Block viral DNA incorporation into host DNA
Protease Inhibitors
Block the enzyme that cleaves precursor proteins to allow maturation of virions
HAART Cocktails
Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (mix of many drugs)
What did HIV evolve from?
SIV (simian Immunodeficiency Virus)
HIV-1
The most prevalent and pathogenic type of HIV virus, came from chimps
HIV-2
Found primarily in West Africa and less virulent, came from sooty mangabeys
HIV-1 Group M
Major/Main
9 Subtypes
Global (95%)