You can see a protease inhibitor in green, near the center of the image, while the moving molecule shows how the computer is searching for a good fit for the test inhibitor. The human immunodeficiency virus, HIV, is a virus that attacks T-lymphocytes, key cells in the immune system. This syndrome is called AIDS , and can consist of many opportunistic infections of the intestinal tract, lungs, brain, eyes and other organs, as well as debilitating weight loss, diarrhea, neurologic conditions and cancers such as Kaposi's sarcoma and lymphomas. Crystal structure not available. These drugs work by blocking the human immunodeficiency virus' protease.
Proteases are enzymes that cut protein chains in two.
An enzyme is a tiny, molecular machine, that accelerates a particular biochemical reaction. When the virus is forming inside infected cells, long strings of polyprotein are manufactured from the virus's genetic instructions. However, these polyproteins must becut at the right places for the active forms of the virus's machinery to be produced. The AIDS Knowledge Base an online textbook on HIV disease from the University of California, San Francisco and San Francisco General Hospital. Work began on this textbook in 1985.