b) HIV protease is a hydrolase, and differs from eukaryotic aspartic protease in

Question

b) HIV protease is a hydrolase, and differs from eukaryotic aspartic protease in that it is a homodimer containing 99 amino acids per subunit (while eukaryotic aspartic proteases are monomer composed of ~330 amino acids). This aspartic dyad reacts to activate the water and the peptide bonds of Phe-Pro or Tyr-Pro for direct hydrolysis. List at least two reasons that HIV protease is a unique target for antiviral drug design?

c) In the battle against biological agents, list the enzyme targeted by TSA-based drugs against AIDS?

Explanation / Answer

HIV protease is a unique target for antiviral drug design because its scissile bonds have unique set of target molecules like Phe-Pro, Phe-Leu. The protease is very specific in nature and has great hydrolysing capability.

Enzyme targeted by TSA-based drugs against AIDS are: metalloenzymes which includes carbonic anhydrase, matrix metalloproteinases, angiotensin converting enzyme, histone deacetylase and tyrosinase.

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