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Each antibody binds to a specific antigen in a highly specific interaction analogous to a lock and key.. An antibody (Ab) or immunoglobulin (Ig) is a large, Y-shaped protein belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily which is used by the immune system to identify and neutralize antigens such as bacteria and viruses, including those that cause disease.
Life-cycle of a typical virus (left to right); following infection of a cell by a single virus, hundreds of offspring are released. When a virus infects a cell, the virus forces it to make thousands more viruses. It does this by making the cell copy the virus's DNA or RNA, making viral proteins, which all assemble to form new virus particles. [37]
The genetic material of a virus is stored within a viral protein structure called the capsid. The capsid is a "shield" that protects the viral nucleic acids from getting degraded by host enzymes or other types of pesticides or pestilences. It also functions to attach the virion to its host, and enable the virion to penetrate the host cell membrane.
The prolate structure of a typical head on a bacteriophage. An elongated icosahedron is a common shape for the heads of bacteriophages. Such a structure is composed of a cylinder with a cap at either end. The cylinder is composed of 10 elongated triangular faces.
The genetic material within virus particles, and the method by which the material is replicated, varies considerably between different types of viruses. DNA viruses The genome replication of most DNA viruses takes place in the cell's nucleus. If the cell has the appropriate receptor on its surface, these viruses enter the cell either by direct ...
A very large virus, especially one of the so-called nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDVs), which have extremely large genomes compared to the average virus and contain many unique genes not found in other organisms. Some of these viruses are larger than a typical bacterium. Global Virus Network (GVN) group-specific antigen. Also called a ...
In eukaryotic cells, DNA is associated with about an equal mass of histone proteins in a highly condensed nucleoprotein complex called chromatin. [14] Deoxyribonucleoproteins in this kind of complex interact to generate a multiprotein regulatory complex in which the intervening DNA is looped or wound.
The adenovirus genome is linear, non-segmented double-stranded (ds) DNA that is between 26 and 48 kbp. [2] This allows the virus to theoretically carry 22 to 40 genes. Although this is significantly larger than other viruses in its Baltimore group, it is still a very simple virus and is heavily reliant on the host cell for survival and ...