DRACO (antiviral)

DRACO (antiviral)

DRACO ("Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) Activated Caspase Oligomerizer") is a group of experimental antiviral drugs under development at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. DRACO is reported to have broad-spectrum efficacy against many infectious viruses, including Dengue flavivirus, Amapari and Tacaribe Arenavirus, Guama bunyavirus, H1N1 influenza and rhinovirus. DRACO is reported to induce rapid apoptosis selectively in virus-infected mammalian cells, while leaving uninfected cells unharmed.[1][2]

Mechanism

DRACO is selective for virus-infected cells. Differentiation between infected and healthy cells is made primarily via the length and type of RNA transcription helices present within the cell. Most viruses produce long dsRNA helices during transcription and replication. In contrast, uninfected mammalian cells generally produce dsRNA helices of less than 24 base pairs during transcription. Cell death is effected via one of the last steps in the apoptosis pathway in which complexes containing intracellular apoptosis signaling molecules simultaneously bind multiple procaspases. The procaspases transactivate via cleavage, activate additional caspases in the cascade, and cleave a variety of cellular proteins, thereby killing the cell.[1]

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Draco — Contents 1 Science and technology 2 History 3 Literature, film, and television …   Wikipedia

  • DRACO (антивирусный препарат) — DRACO  антивирусный препарат. Название препарата составлено из первых букв полного наименования на английском языке («Double stranded RNA (dsRNA) Activated Caspase Oligomerizer»  Активируемый двухцепочечной РНК олигомеризатор каспазы).… …   Википедия

  • DRACO (thérapeutique) — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Draco (homonymie). DRACO ( Double stranded RNA(ARN bicaténaire) Activated Caspase Oligomerizer ) est une famille de molécules antivirales conçues et expérimentées au M.I.T. Massachusetts Institute of Technology… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Dragon's blood — Dragon s blood, powdered pigment or apothecary s grade and roughly crushed incense For the novel by Jane Yolen, see Jane Yolen. For the novel by Todd McCaffrey, see Dragonsblood. Dragon s blood is a bright red resin that is obtained from… …   Wikipedia

  • Sangre del Dragón — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda La Sangre de Dragón es una brillante resina roja que se obtiene de diferentes especies de cuatro distintos géneros botánicos: Croton, Dracaena, Daemonorops, Pterocarpus. La resina roja se usaba en tiempos antiguos… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Double-stranded RNA viruses — Electron micrograph of rotaviruses. The bar = 100 nm Virus classification Group: Group III (ds …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”