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===Structure of HIV-1 Protease===
===Structure of HIV-1 Protease===
The X-ray structure of HIV-1 protease reveals that it is composed of <scene name='User:David_Canner/Sandbox_HIV/Identical_subunits/1'>two symmetrically related subunits</scene>, each consisting of 99 amino acid residues. The subunits come together in such as way as to <scene name='User:David_Canner/Sandbox_HIV/Tunnel/1'>form a tunnel where they meet</scene>. This tunnel is of critical importance because the active site of the protease is located  in its interior. The active site consists of <scene name='User:David_Canner/Sandbox_HIV/Catalytic_triad/2'> two Asp-Thr-Gly catalytic triads</scene>, making it a member of the aspartyl protease family. The two Asp's are <scene name='User:David_Canner/Sandbox_HIV/Catalytic_asp/1'>essential catalytic residues</scene> that activate a water molecule to hydrolytically cleave the polyprotein that binds in the tunnel. <ref>PMID:1799632</ref> You may be wondering how a polyprotein makes its way into the active-site tunnel, as the<scene name='User:David_Canner/Sandbox_HIV/Narrow_tunnel/1'> tunnel appears to be too narrow </scene> to admit it. The key is the two flexible flaps on the top of the tunnel that <scene name='User:David_Canner/Sandbox_HIV/Hiv_tunnel_morph/3'>move to allow proteins </scene>to enter the tunnel. The flaps <scene name='User:David_Canner/Sandbox_HIV/Hiv_tunnel_morph_flaps/2'>undergo a dramatic movement</scene>, shifting from an open to a closed conformation to bind the target in an appropriate conformation for cleavage.
The X-ray structure of HIV-1 protease reveals that it is composed of <scene name='User:David_Canner/Sandbox_HIV/Identical_subunits/1'>two symmetrically related subunits</scene>, each consisting of 99 amino acid residues. The subunits come together in such as way as to <scene name='User:David_Canner/Sandbox_HIV/Tunnel/1'>form a tunnel where they meet</scene>. This tunnel is of critical importance because the active site of the protease is located  in its interior. The active site consists of <scene name='User:David_Canner/Sandbox_HIV/Catalytic_triad/2'> two Asp-Thr-Gly catalytic triads</scene>, making it a member of the aspartyl protease family. The two Asp's are <scene name='User:David_Canner/Sandbox_HIV/Catalytic_asp/1'>essential catalytic residues</scene> that activate a water molecule to hydrolytically cleave the polyprotein that binds in the tunnel. <ref>PMID:1799632</ref> You may be wondering how a polyprotein makes its way into the active-site tunnel, as the<scene name='User:David_Canner/Sandbox_HIV/Narrow_tunnel/1'> tunnel appears to be too narrow </scene> to admit it. The key is the two flexible flaps on the top of the tunnel that <scene name='User:David_Canner/Sandbox_HIV/Hiv_tunnel_morph/3'>move to allow proteins </scene>to enter the tunnel. The flaps <scene name='User:David_Canner/Sandbox_HIV/Hiv_tunnel_morph_flaps/2'>undergo a dramatic movement</scene>, shifting from an open to a closed conformation to bind the target in an appropriate conformation for cleavage.


===Medical Implications===
===Medical Implications===