Skip to main content

UPSC PRELIMS_POWER PLAY- SCIENCE &TECH SERIES_HEALTH (Enzymes to block HIV replication)

 

Enzymes to block HIV replication

Enzymes to block HIV replication

The researchers at IISc, Bengaluru have developed artificial enzymes to block replication and reactivation of HIV

Key updates and 

  •  According to the researchers these “nanozymes”, made from vanadium pentoxide nanosheets, work by mimicking a natural enzyme called glutathione peroxidase that helps reduce oxidative stress levels in the host’s cells, which is required to keep the virus in check.
  • Advantages of Nanozymes: 
    • The nanozymes are stable inside biological systems and do not mediate any unwanted reactions inside the cells
    • They are also quite easy to prepare in the lab
  • They pointed out that elimination of HIV from a patient’s body completely is impossible as of now, anti-HIV drugs that have been developed so far are only successful in suppressing the virus.  However, they fail at eradicating HIV from infected cells 
  • Reactivating & Replication of HIV: The IISc has mentioned that The virus hides inside the host’s immune cells in a “latent” state and stably maintains its reservoir. When the levels of toxic molecules such as hydrogen peroxide increase in the host’s cells, leading to a state of increased oxidative stress, the virus gets ‘reactivated’ – it emerges from hiding and begins replicating again
  • Study by: It was published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, was led by Amit Singh, Associate Professor and Wellcome Trust-DBT India Alliance Senior Fellow at the Department of Microbiology & Cell Biology and Centre for Infectious Diseases Research (CIDR). 
  • The same team had developed a biosensor to measure oxidative stress levels in HIV-infected immune cells in real-time some years back.
  • During the same time another group of researchers had published a study showing that nanowires made of vanadium pentoxide can efficiently mimic the activity of glutathione peroxidase. Singh’s lab, therefore, decided to collaborate with them.
  • The researchers have found that these nanosheets (that were prepared using vanadium pentoxide) were having some sort of direct effect where the expression of the host genes essential for virus reactivation is reduced
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Major Literary Works & Authors in Gupta Period

  Major Literary Works & Authors in Gupta Period The Gupta period was known as the Golden period of India in cultural development. It is considered as the one of the supreme and most outstanding times. Gupta Kings patronized the Sanskrit literature. They generously helped Sanskrit scholars and poets. Eventually Sanskrit language became the language of cultured and educated people. Kalidasa He was a Classical Sanskrit writer, extensively considered as the greatest poet and dramatist of Gupta Period. The six major works of Kalidasa are Abhijnanashakuntala Vikramorvashi Malavikagnimitra The epic poems Raghuvamsha Kumarasambhava Meghaduta Vishakhadatta The famous plays of Vishakhadatta are Mudrarakṣhasa Mudrarakshasha means “Ring of the Demon” and it recites the ascent of Chandragupta Maurya to throne. Shudraka He is a king as well as poet The famous three Sanskrit plays contributed by him are Mrichchhakatika (The Little Clay Cart) Vinavasavadatta A bhana (short one-act monologue) ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Public Distribution System in India

Public Distribution System in India Public Distribution System (PDS) is a  food Security System  established  under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution  by the govt. of India         PDS is public rationing system of India. India’s Public Distribution System (PDS) is the largest distribution network of its kind in the world. PDS was introduced around World War II as a war-time rationing measure. In 1960s due to food insecurity, the government set up the Agriculture Prices Commission and the Food Corporation of India to improve domestic procurement and storage of food grains for PDS. By the 1970s, PDS had evolved into a universal scheme for the distribution of subsidised food. In 1997, the government launched the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), with a focus on the poor. TPDS aims to provide subsidised food and fuel to the poor through a network of ration shops. Food grains such as rice and wheat tha...
4 comments
Read more

12th July –Current Affairs

12th July –Current Affairs Amendments to POCSO ACT : Ø    The Union Cabinet has approved a new definition for child pornography in its amendments to the POCSO Act , which is likely to be introduced in Parliament next week. Ø    Cabinet has approved the Amendments to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences, POCSO, Act, 2012 to discourage the trend of child sexual abuse by acting as a deterrent due to strong penal provisions incorporated in the Act. Ø    It will make  punishment more stringent for committing sexual crimes against children including the death penalty.  Ø    The amendments also provide for levy of fines and imprisonment to curb child pornography. Ø    The new definition of child pornography reads, “Any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a child which include photographs, video, digital or computer generated image indistinguishable from an actual child and an image cre...
Post a Comment
Read more