hiv

• Viruses


  Not considered living cells, have to replicate inside host cell
• Viruses


  • Hard to treat with medicine as destroying viral cell requires destroying host cell
  • Antibiotics won't destroy viral cell as they target mechanisms like protein synthesis, respiration, cell wall which viruses don't have
• Viral structure


  Protein envelope, protein capsid, genetic material (DNA or RNA)
• HIV structure


  • Core with RNA genetic material and reverse transcriptase enzyme
  • Outer protein capsid coat
  • Envelope made of host cell membrane
  • Protein attachments to bind to host cells
• HIV replication


  1. Attaches to CD4 protein on helper T cells

  2. Membrane fuses, releases RNA and reverse transcriptase

  3. Reverse transcriptase converts RNA to DNA

  4. DNA enters nucleus of helper T cell

  5. New HIV particles replicated, destroying helper T cell
• HIV positive


  Having HIV virus in body
• AIDS


  When replicating HIV interferes with normal immune system function
• Antibiotics are ineffective against viruses
• Destruction of helper T cells by replicating HIV leads to vulnerability to infections and cancer