Life Cycle of HIV

Introduction

• Presenter: Sarah from registerednessrn.com
• Focus: Life cycle of HIV

Basics of HIV

• HIV is a retrovirus
  • Cannot grow/multiply without a host cell
• Target cells: cells with CD4 receptors
  • Attaches to CD4 receptor, enters cell, and takes over cell's function to produce more HIV
• After producing the desired amount of HIV, it kills the host cell, and newly formed HIV viruses repeat the cycle

Anatomy of HIV Virus

• Surrounded by proteins called glycoproteins
• Key component: gp120 (glycoprotein 120)
  • Essential for attaching to CD4 receptor
• Inside the virus:
  • Contains three key enzymes:
    1. Reverse Transcriptase
    2. Integrase
    3. Protease
  • Single strand of RNA

Life Cycle of HIV

1. Attachment

• gp120 attaches to CD4 receptor on the cell surface
• Binding involves a co-receptor (CCR5 or CXCR4)
• Allows HIV to gain entry into the cell

2. Fusion

• HIV fuses with the helper T cell
• Dumps its contents (enzymes and RNA) into the cell

3. Reverse Transcription

• Reverse Transcriptase converts RNA into double-stranded DNA

4. Integration

• Viral DNA moves to the nucleus
• Integrase integrates viral DNA into the host cell's DNA

5. Replication

• Creation of long protein chains and RNA
• Assembly process begins

6. Budding

• Virus starts to grow outward from the cell surface
• Budding process completes as the virus pops off the cell

7. Maturation

• Protease enzyme cuts long protein chains into shorter ones
• Maturation of new HIV virus completed
• Newly matured virus kills the host cell and moves on to infect new cells

Importance of Understanding the Life Cycle

• Essential for understanding how antiretroviral therapy (ART) works
• ART involves medications that target specific parts of the HIV life cycle (e.g., attachment, fusion, assembly)
• Early initiation of ART is crucial for limiting the amount of HIV in the blood

Conclusion

• Understanding the HIV life cycle is vital for effectively managing HIV with antiretroviral therapy
• For more in-depth content on HIV and AIDS, access the free video in the YouTube description