Exam Preparation for BIOL1008

Module 4
Infectious diseases section

Examination Format
4 questions:
Question 1: contrast terms (choose two out of four
pairs) (6 marks)
Question 2: no choice, answer specific points on a
particular disease (5 marks)
Question 3: schematic to complete and a specific
question (7 marks)
Question 4: schematic to complete including some
description (7 marks)

Contrast terms
Antibody/antigen
An antibody is produced by activated B-lymphocytes called
plasma cells, it is part of our defense against pathogens. An
antibody is highly specific and only recognises a particular
antigen. On the contrary, an antigen is not part of our defense
but is what our body recognises as being foreign. It can be
molecules expressed on the surface of pathogens or of
cancerous cells. Once it is detected it triggers an immune
response.

Contrast terms
Prokaryotes/eukaryotes
Prokaryotes lack a nucleus, their genetic material is not in the
shape of chromosome and is not contained within a nucleus.
Bacteria and viruses for example are prokaryotes. In eukaryotes,
on the contrary, the genetic material is organised into
chromosomes associated with histones and is contained within a
nucleus. All parasites are eukaryotes.

Schematic to complete - Practice

1- HIV binds to the host cell
2- HIV empties its content in host cell
3- HIV transcribes its RNA into double-stranded
DNA thanks to its reverse transcriptase
4- HIV DNA migrates to host cell nucleus and
integrates host cell DNA thanks to virus integrase
5- HIV RNA synthesised by host cell is used as
virus genomic RNA but it is also translated
into proteins by host cell machinery

6- assembly of viral genomic RNA and proteins

to the cell surface and budding of immature virus
particle

7- maturation of virus particle ready to infect a

new host cell

Specific question
How can people avoid becoming infected by HIV?
Safe sex: use of condoms
Avoid exchange of syringes if using intravenous drugs
HIV positive women should take anti-retroviral drugs during pregnancy
and should not breast feed their babies
Ensure that the blood supply and organs or tissues for transplantation are safe
as well as sterilising all medical equipment

Specific question
In 1982, Stanley Prusiner coined the term prion to describe the
protein origin of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSE). In
point format, outline the prion hypothesis and explain how we think
pathogenic prions replicate.

The prion theory states that the transmissible agent of TSE is a variation of a
normal protein of the outer surface of neurons.
The pathogenic prion is chemically identical to the non pathogenic prion but
possesses a different conformation making it resistant to proteases, extreme heat,
common sterilants and extreme pH.
Replication:
- A pathogenic prion combines with a non-pathogenic prion in the brain and
acts as a template.
- This causes the non-pathogenic prion to adopt similar shape and therefore to
become pathogenic.
- In turn, this newly formed pathogenic prion acts as template and repeat the
process, resulting in an exponential increase of distorted prions.

Questions
What do you mean by anti-retroviral?
Drugs to treat infections due to retroviruses
AIDS: what is the multi-drug treatment?
Giving the patients a cocktail of drugs not just one drug (to avoid development of resistance in the
pathogen)
It says on the lecture notes that "Most infected people dont develop the disease, Tuberculosis."
So does that mean that if a person is infected with the bacterium he or she can kill the bacterium
overtime?
No, M. tuberculosis remains in a dormant stage (sort of cyst) inside the host for the rest of her/his life
(with the exception of few people who seem to be able to clear acute infections).
Do we need to know the names of the four first line drugs used to treat pulmonary TB?
No but that treatment is started with four first line antibiotics then susceptibility tests are done to
continue treatment with the two most efficient antibiotics
Do we need to learn about the pathogens introduced in the first lecture?
No
I was wondering if we had to learn much about immunology (1st lecture). Do we have to know
what all of the cells do in the immune system?
Yes you must understand the role of the main immune cells: T-cells, B-cells and antigen presenting
cells
Prion diseases, are they the same as TSEs?
Yes, different designation same thing as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies are caused by
pathogenic prions. The only difference is that prion diseases also encompasses non-communicable
spongiform encephalopathies.
Is the causative prion of vCJD the same as the one causing BSE?
Yes
Are the readings assessable?
No, only for you to gain further information

More questions

Also I didnt really understand if someone with AIDS infects another, then does that person now
have HIV and will develop AIDS or receive AIDS?
AIDS is the disease caused by HIV so someone with AIDS will pass the pathogen (HIV). It is essential
to understand that infectious diseases are caused by an infectious agent (pathogen) and therefore
there is a name given to the infectious agent (causative agent that can be a bacterium, virus, fungus,
parasite or pathogenic prion) and a name given to the disease resulting from the infection (for example
tuberculosis is caused by M. tuberculosis, therefore one must say someone is infected with M.
tuberculosis but suffers from tuberculosis one shouldnt say someone is infected with tuberculosis
people are not infected by a disease but by the causative agent of the disease).
I was wondering if you could go over in the revision lecture about how the HIV virus enters the cell
and explain the importance of CD4.
CD4 is one of the two host cell molecules used by HIV to invade cells. First the viral particle attaches
to CD4 via its gp120 antigen, this leads to a conformational change in gp120 making gp41 accessible
for it to bind to the host cell chemoreceptor CCR-5 or CXCR4. Now the envelope of the viral particle
and the membrane of the host cell can fuse and the content of the virus will be emptied into the
cytoplasm of the host cell.

More questions
Is knowing the structure of the Ebola virus important?
Yes and also understanding the role of each component of the virus
Do we need to know the life cycle of Ebola virus?
Yes as for all the life cycles we studied in this section
De we need to know about the history of the different diseases approached?
Not in detail but you must be able to situate them in time (i.e. TB was thriving in the 19th and early 20th
centuries while HIV only discovered in the 1980s)
Can prion diseases be treated?
No, what we discussed are avenues of research into treating spongiform encephalopathies. Different
approaches are studied such as reversible depletion of cellular prions, stopping pathogenic prions to
reach the brain, cleaving pathogenic prions or blocking the interaction between cellular and pathogenic
prions.
Could you go over the different stages of Toxoplasma gondii again?
Tachyzoites: fast replicating stage, causing the pathology when infection is symptomatic in humans
Bradyzoites: slow dividing stage contained in tissue cysts
Sporozoites: stage contained within sporocysts themselves
being within oocysts (released by infected cats in faeces)

Bradyzoites are
in the cysts

Toxo cysts in muscle

can be ingested

GoodLuck!