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Protein: hiv-1 protease
PDB ID: 7HVP
HIV-1 protease is an important enzyme for the life cycle of HIV. Its function is to cut long chain of proteins into its proper length for the maturation process of the virus. This is a critical process and when completed the matured virus can invade and infect other cells.
The
primary structure of the HIV-1 protease is a double chain peptide. Each chain A and B is 99 amino acids
in length and the secondary structure contains 1 helix and 10 beta sheets.
The discovery HIV-1 protease and its function was important for the fight against these immunodeficiency viruses. Drugs can be made to target HIV-1 protease to stop or inhibit the enzyme's function. By preventing their actions, the maturation of the virus can be stopped and thereby preventing the infections other cells.
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Thursday, February 16, 2012
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Very interesting choice of protein Donovan, thanks for sharing. You did a good job of explaining this protein in the structural terms we are learning.
ReplyDeleteYet you did an even better job of using the HIV protease to demonstrate not only its function, but also how proteins like this one can be targeted to help treat or cure a disease. I am curious to find out if other proteases or proteins exist which fill the role of HIV-1 after it is targeted and inhibited by drugs?