ANTIVIRAL AGENTS
Onkar Salunke
,INTRODUCTION
• Viruses are unique organisms.
• They are the smallest of all self-replication
organisms, able to pass through filters that retain the
smallest bacteria.
• The simplest viruses contain a small amount of DNA
or RNA surrounded by an uncomplicated protein
coat.
• Some of the more complex viruses have a lipid
bilayer membrane surrounding the nucleic acid.
,• Viruses must replicate in living cells, which has led
many to argue that viruses are not even living
organisms but that they somehow exist at the
interface of the living and the nonliving.
• The most basic requirement is for the virus to induce
either profound or subtle changes in the host cell, so
that viral genes are replicated and viral proteins are
expressed.
• This will result in the formation of new viruses
• They use part of the cell’s equipment for replication
of viral nucleic acids and expression of viral genes
, • The virus turns the biochemical systems of the host
cell to its own purposes, completely subverting the
infected cell.
• An infection that results in the production of more
viruses than initiation of infection is called a
productive infection.
• The actual number of infectious viruses produced in
an infected cell is termed the burst size.
• This number can range from 10 to more than 10,000,
depending on the type of cell infected, the nature of
the virus, and other factors.
Onkar Salunke
,INTRODUCTION
• Viruses are unique organisms.
• They are the smallest of all self-replication
organisms, able to pass through filters that retain the
smallest bacteria.
• The simplest viruses contain a small amount of DNA
or RNA surrounded by an uncomplicated protein
coat.
• Some of the more complex viruses have a lipid
bilayer membrane surrounding the nucleic acid.
,• Viruses must replicate in living cells, which has led
many to argue that viruses are not even living
organisms but that they somehow exist at the
interface of the living and the nonliving.
• The most basic requirement is for the virus to induce
either profound or subtle changes in the host cell, so
that viral genes are replicated and viral proteins are
expressed.
• This will result in the formation of new viruses
• They use part of the cell’s equipment for replication
of viral nucleic acids and expression of viral genes
, • The virus turns the biochemical systems of the host
cell to its own purposes, completely subverting the
infected cell.
• An infection that results in the production of more
viruses than initiation of infection is called a
productive infection.
• The actual number of infectious viruses produced in
an infected cell is termed the burst size.
• This number can range from 10 to more than 10,000,
depending on the type of cell infected, the nature of
the virus, and other factors.
