Thymidine kinase from herpesvirus
Encyclopedia
Thymidine kinase from herpesvirus  is a sub-family
Protein family
A protein family is a group of evolutionarily-related proteins, and is often nearly synonymous with gene family. The term protein family should not be confused with family as it is used in taxonomy....

 of thymidine kinase
Thymidine kinase
Thymidine kinase is an enzyme, a phosphotransferase : 2'-deoxythymidine kinase, ATP-thymidine 5'-phosphotransferase, . It can be found in most living cells. It is present in two forms in mammalian cells, TK1 and TK2...

s.

Its presence in herpesvirus-infected cells is used to activate a range of antivirals against herpes infection, and thus specifically target the therapy towards infected cells only.

Such antivirals include:
  • Purine analogue
    Purine analogue
    Purine analogues are antimetabolites which mimic the structure of metabolic purines.* Azathioprine is the main immunosuppressive cytotoxic substance. It is widely used in transplantations to control rejection reactions. It is nonenzymatically cleaved to 6-mercaptopurine that acts as a purine...

    s of guanine
    Guanine
    Guanine is one of the four main nucleobases found in the nucleic acids DNA and RNA, the others being adenine, cytosine, and thymine . In DNA, guanine is paired with cytosine. With the formula C5H5N5O, guanine is a derivative of purine, consisting of a fused pyrimidine-imidazole ring system with...

    : Aciclovir
    Aciclovir
    Aciclovir or acyclovir , chemical name acycloguanosine, abbreviated as ACV,is a guanosine analogue antiviral drug, marketed under trade names such as Cyclovir, Herpex, Acivir, Acivirax, Zovirax, and Zovir...

    , Famciclovir
    Famciclovir
    Famciclovir is a guanine analogue antiviral drug used for the treatment of various herpesvirus infections, most commonly for herpes zoster . It is a prodrug form of penciclovir with improved oral bioavailability...

    , Ganciclovir
    Ganciclovir
    Ganciclovir INN is an antiviral medication used to treat or prevent cytomegalovirus infections.Ganciclovir sodium is marketed under the trade names Cytovene and Cymevene . Ganciclovir for ocular use is marketed under the trade name Vitrasert...

    , Penciclovir, Valaciclovir, Valganciclovir
    Valganciclovir
    Valganciclovir hydrochloride is an antiviral medication used to treat cytomegalovirus infections. As the L-valyl ester of ganciclovir, it is actually a prodrug for ganciclovir...

  • Vidarabine
    Vidarabine
    Vidarabine or adenine arabinoside is an antiviral drug which is active against herpes simplex and varicella zoster viruses.- How the drug was discovered :...

  • Pyrimidine analogue
    Pyrimidine analogue
    Pyrimidine analogues are antimetabolites which mimic the structure of metabolic pyrimidines.-Examples:Examples include:* 5-fluorouracil which inhibits thymidylate synthase.* Floxuridine * Cytosine arabinoside...

    s of uridine
    Uridine
    Uridine is a molecule that is formed when uracil is attached to a ribose ring via a β-N1-glycosidic bond.If uracil is attached to a deoxyribose ring, it is known as a deoxyuridine....

    : Idoxuridine
    Idoxuridine
    Idoxuridine is an anti-herpesvirus antiviral drug.It is a nucleoside analogue, a modified form of deoxyuridine, similar enough to be incorporated into viral DNA replication, but the iodine atom added to the uracil component blocks base pairing. It is used only topically due to...

    , Trifluridine
    Trifluridine
    Trifluridine is an anti-herpesvirus antiviral drug, used primarily on the eye. It was sold under the trade name, Viroptic, by Glaxo Wellcome, now merged into GlaxoSmithKline...

  • Brivudine
    Brivudine
    Brivudine is an antiviral drug used in the treatment of herpes zoster.-History:Brivudine is a similar drug to acyclovir. The compound was first synthesized by scientists at the University of Birmingham in the UK in the 1970s...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK