Testing
for AIDS - 2
Definition of AIDS:
eAcquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
Causative agent:
eHuman Immunodeficiency Virus-1 (HIV-1)
Characteristics of HIV-1:
eit is a retrovirus
eit contains two strands of RNA
ealso contains several enzymes
eit=s
capsid contains lipids
egp120 antigen of virus attaches to CD4
antigen on cells
ethree major genes and their functions:
Ženv gene:
Žgag gene:
Žpol gene:
Codes for glycoproteins in outer envelope
(gp120 & gp41)
Codes for core proteins (p55, p40 & p24)
Codes for enzymes reverse transcriptase
(p66) & (p51),
protease (p11), & integrase (p51)
