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Antiviral drugs are a class of medication used for treating viral infections. Most antivirals target specific viruses, while a broad-spectrum antiviral is effective against a wide range of viruses. Antiviral drugs are a class of antimicrobials, a larger group which also includes antibiotic, antifungal and antiparasitic drugs, or antiviral drugs based on monoclonal antibodies. Most antivirals are considered relatively harmless to the host, and therefore can be used to treat infections. They should be distinguished from virucides, which are not medication but deactivate or destroy virus particles, either inside or outside the body. Natural virucides are produced by some plants such as eucalyptus and Australian tea trees.
Gene silencing is the regulation of gene expression in a cell to prevent the expression of a certain gene. Gene silencing can occur during either transcription or translation and is often used in research. In particular, methods used to silence genes are being increasingly used to produce therapeutics to combat cancer and other diseases, such as infectious diseases and neurodegenerative disorders.
Ribonuclease H is a family of non-sequence-specific endonuclease enzymes that catalyze the cleavage of RNA in an RNA/DNA substrate via a hydrolytic mechanism. Members of the RNase H family can be found in nearly all organisms, from bacteria to archaea to eukaryotes.
Chemokines, or chemotactic cytokines, are a family of small cytokines or signaling proteins secreted by cells that induce directional movement of leukocytes, as well as other cell types, including endothelial and epithelial cells. In addition to playing a major role in the activation of host immune responses, chemokines are important for biological processes, including morphogenesis and wound healing, as well as in the pathogenesis of diseases like cancers.
Tripartite motif-containing protein 5 also known as RING finger protein 88 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the TRIM5 gene. The alpha isoform of this protein, TRIM5α, is a retrovirus restriction factor, which mediates a species-specific early block to retrovirus infection.
The innate immune system or nonspecific immune system is one of the two main immunity strategies in vertebrates. The innate immune system is an alternate defense strategy and is the dominant immune system response found in plants, fungi, prokaryotes, and invertebrates.
Tetraspanins are a family of membrane proteins found in all multicellular eukaryotes also referred to as the transmembrane 4 superfamily (TM4SF) proteins. These proteins have four transmembrane alpha-helices and two extracellular domains, one short and one longer, typically 100 amino acid residues. Although several protein families have four transmembrane alpha-helices, tetraspanins are defined by conserved amino acid sequences including four or more cysteine residues in the EC2 domain, with two in a highly conserved 'CCG' motif. Tetraspanins are often thought to act as scaffolding proteins, anchoring multiple proteins to one area of the cell membrane.
The signal recognition particle RNA, is part of the signal recognition particle (SRP) ribonucleoprotein complex. SRP recognizes the signal peptide and binds to the ribosome, halting protein synthesis. SRP-receptor is a protein that is embedded in a membrane, and which contains a transmembrane pore. When the SRP-ribosome complex binds to SRP-receptor, SRP releases the ribosome and drifts away. The ribosome resumes protein synthesis, but now the protein is moving through the SRP-receptor transmembrane pore.
A virus is a tiny infectious agent that reproduces inside the cells of living hosts. When infected, the host cell is forced to rapidly produce thousands of identical copies of the original virus. Unlike most living things, viruses do not have cells that divide; new viruses assemble in the infected host cell. But unlike simpler infectious agents like prions, they contain genes, which allow them to mutate and evolve. Over 4,800 species of viruses have been described in detail out of the millions in the environment. Their origin is unclear: some may have evolved from plasmids—pieces of DNA that can move between cells—while others may have evolved from bacteria.
Interferon alpha-2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the IFNA2 gene.
Interferon-induced transmembrane protein 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the IFITM1 gene. IFITM1 has also recently been designated CD225. This protein has several additional names: fragilis, IFI17 [interferon-induced protein 17], 9-27 [Interferon-inducible protein 9-27] and Leu13.
Interferon-induced GTP-binding protein Mx2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the MX2 gene.
Tetherin, also known as bone marrow stromal antigen 2, is a lipid raft associated protein that in humans is encoded by the BST2 gene. In addition, tetherin has been designated as CD317. This protein is constitutively expressed in mature B cells, plasma cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cells, and in many other cells, it is only expressed as a response to stimuli from IFN pathway.
In molecular biology the DHHC domain is a protein domain that acts as an enzyme, which adds a palmitoyl chemical group to proteins in order to anchor them to cell membranes. The DHHC domain was discovered in 1999 and named after a conserved sequence motif found in its protein sequence. Roth and colleagues showed that the yeast Akr1p protein could palmitoylate Yck2p in vitro and inferred that the DHHC domain defined a large family of palmitoyltransferases. In mammals twenty three members of this family have been identified and their substrate specificities investigated. Some members of the family such as ZDHHC3 and ZDHHC7 enhance palmitoylation of proteins such as PSD-95, SNAP-25, GAP43, Gαs. Others such as ZDHHC9 showed specificity only toward the H-Ras protein. However, a recent study questions the involvement of classical enzyme-substrate recognition and specificity in the palmitoylation reaction. Several members of the family have been implicated in human diseases.
Antiviral proteins are proteins that are induced by human or animal cells to interfere with viral replication. These proteins are isolated to inhibit the virus from replicating in a host's cells and stop it from spreading to other cells. The Pokeweed antiviral protein and the Zinc-Finger antiviral protein are two major antiviral proteins that have undergone several tests for viruses, including HIV and influenza.
Radical S-adenosyl methionine domain-containing protein 2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the RSAD2 gene. RSAD2 is a multifunctional protein in viral processes that is an interferon stimulated gene. It has been reported that viperin could be induced by either IFN-dependent or IFN-independent pathways and certain viruses may use viperin to increase their infectivity.
ATP-binding cassette sub-family E member 1 (ABCE1) also known as RNase L inhibitor (RLI) is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ABCE1 gene.
Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene.
Interferon-induced transmembrane protein 2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the IFITM2 gene. IFITM1 is a member of the IFITM family which is encoded by IFITM genes.
ORF6 is a gene that encodes a viral accessory protein in coronaviruses of the subgenus Sarbecovirus, including SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. It is not present in MERS-CoV. It is thought to reduce the immune system response to viral infection through interferon antagonism.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sällman Almén M, Bringeland N, Fredriksson R, Schiöth HB (2012). "The dispanins: a novel gene family of ancient origin that contains 14 human members". PLOS ONE. 7 (2): e31961. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...731961S. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0031961 . PMC 3282796 . PMID 22363774.
- 1 2 3 Lu J, Pan Q, Rong L, He W, Liu SL, Liang C (2011). "The IFITM proteins inhibit HIV-1 infection". J Virol. 85 (5): 2126–37. doi:10.1128/JVI.01531-10. PMC 3067758 . PMID 21177806.
- ↑ Yount JS, Moltedo B, Yang YY, Charron G, Moran TM, López CB, et al. (2010). "Palmitoylome profiling reveals S-palmitoylation-dependent antiviral activity of IFITM3". Nat Chem Biol. 6 (8): 610–4. doi:10.1038/nchembio.405. PMC 2928251 . PMID 20601941.