Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.7.7 (DNA polymerase)
 17,007 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The nucleoside analog acyclovir is remarkably effective and selective in herpes simplex virus (HSF) infections. Acyclovir inhibits the viral enzyme DNA polymerase. Emergence of acyclovir-resistant HSV mutants occurs in immunocompromised patients, especially those with AIDS. Detection of HSV strains with resistance to antiviral drugs requires rapid in vitro tests to determine the IC50, i.e., the concentration of drug which inhibits viral replication by 50%. Studies of patterns of HSV resistance to the various antiviral agents used in medicine and characterization of mutant HSV strains have shown resistance to be due to loss or modification of the viral enzyme thymidine kinase or to changes in the viral DNA polymerase. The main clinically-significant acyclovir-resistant mutants are thymidine kinase-deficient and retain sensitivity to vidarabine and foscarnet. Development of resistance to both acyclovir and foscarnet due to changes in viral DNA polymerase is considerably less common but emphasizes the urgent need for new antiviral strategies for use in immunocompromised patients.
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PMID:[Resistance of herpes simplex viruses to antiviral drugs]. 839 60

Podophyllum hexandrum Royale (Himalayan mayapple), a high-altitude Himalayan plant, has been shown to provide over 80% whole-body radioprotection in mice. To investigate the radioprotective potential of P. hexandrum at the molecular level, expression patterns of various proteins associated with apoptosis were studied in the spleen of male Swiss albino strain A mice by immunoblotting. Treatment with P. hexandrum [200 mg/kg of body weight; an ethanolic 50% (w/v) extract delivered intraperitoneally] 2 h before irradiation resulted in MAPKAP (mitogen-activated protein kinase-activated protein) kinase-2 activation along with HSF-1 (heat-shock transcription factor-1), leading to up-regulation of HSP-70 (heat-shock protein-70) as compared with sham-irradiated (10 Gy) mice. Strong inhibition of AIF (apoptosis-inducing factor) expression was observed in the mice treated with P. hexandrum 2 h before irradiation as compared with the sham-irradiated group. Inhibition in the translocation of free NF-kappaB (nuclear factor kappaB) from cytoplasm to nucleus was observed upon P. hexandrum pretreatment 2 h before irradiation when compared with radiation-treated mice. P. hexandrum pre-treatment (2 h before irradiation) resulted in inhibition of NF-kappaB translocation, and the expression of tumour suppressor protein p53 was observed to be down-regulated as compared with sham-irradiated control. An increase in the expression of proteins responsible for cell proliferation [Bcl-2 (B-cell chronic lymphocytic lymphoma 2), Ras-GAP (Ras-GTPase-activating protein) and PCNA (proliferating cell nuclear antigen)] was observed in the P. hexandrum-pretreated irradiated mice as compared with sham-irradiated controls. Caspase 3 activation resulted PARP [poly(ADP-ribose) DNA polymerase] cleavage, and DNA degradation was strongly inhibited in the mice treated with P. hexandrm (+/-irradiation) as compared with the mice treated with radiation (+/-heat shock). The present study thus clearly demonstrated that P. hexandrum extract provides protection from gamma-radiation by the modulation of expression of proteins associated with cell death.
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PMID:Podophyllum hexandrum (Himalayan mayapple) extract provides radioprotection by modulating the expression of proteins associated with apoptosis. 1576 43