What do protease inhibitors do in HIV?
Protease inhibitors, which figure among the key drugs used to treat HIV, work by binding to proteolytic enzymes (proteases). That blocks their ability to function. Protease inhibitors don’t cure HIV. But by blocking proteases, they can stop HIV from reproducing itself.
Does HIV produce protease?
HIV protease cleaves newly synthesized polyproteins (namely, Gag and Gag-Pol) at nine cleavage sites to create the mature protein components of an HIV virion, the infectious form of a virus outside of the host cell. Without effective HIV protease, HIV virions remain uninfectious.
What is the clinical significance of HIV protease?
HIV-1-Protease (HIV-Pr) HIV-pr is an essential enzyme of HIV replication, and is a vital target for drug design strategies to fight AIDS. It cleaves the Gag and Gag-Pol polyproteins to generate the mature infectious virions capable of CD4+ cells infections (Fun et al., 2012).
Are protease inhibitors bad?
Protease inhibitors and statins taken together may raise the blood levels of statins and increase the risk for muscle injury (myopathy). The most serious form of myopathy, called rhabdomyolysis, can damage the kidneys and lead to kidney failure, which can be fatal.
What does a protease do?
Proteolytic enzymes (proteases) are enzymes that break down protein. These enzymes are made by animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria.
What is the function of protease?
proteolytic enzyme, also called protease, proteinase, or peptidase, any of a group of enzymes that break the long chainlike molecules of proteins into shorter fragments (peptides) and eventually into their components, amino acids.
What is a viral protease?
Definition. Viral proteases are enzymes (endopeptidases EC 3.4. 2) encoded by the genetic material (DNA or RNA) of viral pathogens. The role of these enzymes is to catalyze the cleavage of specific peptide bonds in viral polyprotein precursors or in cellular proteins.