Folding

New discoveries about New discoveries about retroviruses retroviruses

reproduction, and hope reproduction, and hope for people who have for people who have

polycythemia vera.polycythemia vera.Humberto Antonio Zapata Lopera

Medicine Student3rd Semester

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INTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTION

The replication process of viruses has been a mystery since their were discovered. Obviously the viruses that have RNA were the most curious because they have to make a process called reverse transcriptase.

Medicine has been changing to looking beyond of the body, and paying attention to new discoveries in the field of molecular biology because, how it is well know, in the future all diseases could have a molecular explanation and therefore a molecular way to treat the illness.

How a retrovirus, like HIV, reproduces How a retrovirus, like HIV, reproduces and assembles new viruses is different and assembles new viruses is different than previously thought. than previously thought.

ScienceDaily (July 15, 2010)  

How a retrovirus, like HIV, reproduces How a retrovirus, like HIV, reproduces and assembles new viruses is different and assembles new viruses is different than previously thought. than previously thought.

Prior to this study, it was thought the building process happened outside the nucleus in the cyctoplasm and then Gag protein was sent to the plasma membrane.  

The researchers discovered, however, that Rous sarcoma virus takes a detour through the cell nucleus before going to the cell membrane.

How a retrovirus, like HIV, reproduces How a retrovirus, like HIV, reproduces and assembles new viruses is different and assembles new viruses is different than previously thought. than previously thought.

 The Gag protein has a signal, which tells a receptor to take it into the nucleus. Once in the nucleus, Gag binds to the viral RNA. 

The viral RNA alters the structure of the protein, changing the way it folds.

How a retrovirus, like HIV, reproduces How a retrovirus, like HIV, reproduces and assembles new viruses is different and assembles new viruses is different than previously thought. than previously thought.

The Gag protein has to find its own RNA, build a virus particle around it, and then release it from the cell.

 This new configuration triggers a different signal that allows the Gag to move out of the nucleus.

Understanding the steps that a virus takes for their reproduction is vital to development of a way to prevent the spread and treat retroviral diseases. These kind of knowledge is very important to save all the people that is losing their lives in the battle against the AIDS.

Student opinion

Researchers at UT Southwestern Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have uncovered a key Medical Center have uncovered a key step in the creation of new red blood step in the creation of new red blood cells in an animal study. cells in an animal study.

ScienceDaily (July 31, 2010)

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have uncovered a key step in the Center have uncovered a key step in the creation of new red blood cells in an creation of new red blood cells in an animal study. animal study.

  The researchers also created an artificial RNA inhibitor to block this process.  

The researchers found that a tiny fragment of ribonucleic acid (RNA), prompts stem cells to mature into red blood cells.

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have uncovered a key step in the Center have uncovered a key step in the creation of new red blood cells in an creation of new red blood cells in an animal study. animal study.

Such interventions, if fruitful in humans, might be useful against some cancers and other diseases, such as polycythemia vera, in which the body produces a life-threatening excess of blood cells.

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have uncovered a key step in the Center have uncovered a key step in the creation of new red blood cells in an creation of new red blood cells in an animal study. animal study.

 They also showed that a man-made miR-451 inhibitor can reduce miR-451 levels in a mouse and block blood-cell production.

The important finding is that this microRNA, miR-451, is a powerful natural regulator of red blood cell production.

Every day has been appearing new knowledge about the cell function. Discover the exact process whereby RNA make a protein is indispensable for the treatment of diseases that involve signals sent from the nucleus. 

Student opinion

Medical UtilityMedical Utility

Medical UtilityMedical Utility

Nowadays the advances in the comprehension of all the process involved in the reproduction and assembly of viruses is essential on the development of strategies to stop the spread of retroviral diseases like AIDS and Herpes virus.

The study of replication and differetiation of common human cells is important in the understanding of the pathogenesis of illness that involves transcription and translation in order to discover what or how could stop the sickness just in the above processes. 

Medical UtilityMedical Utility

BibliographyBibliography

· Penn State. "Retrovirus Replication Process Different Than Thought." ScienceDaily 15 July 2010. 31 July 2010 <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100715111436.htm>.

· UT Southwestern Medical Center. "Key Step in Body's Ability to Make Red Blood Cells Discovered." ScienceDaily 31 July 2010. 1 August 2010 <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100731210232.htm>.