MICB 212 STUDY GUIDE EXAMS SET TEST
PAPER QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS 2026
VIEW AHEAD EXAM
⫸ Main reservoir of Poliovirus. Answer: HUMANS!
⫸ Targets of Anti-Viral Drugs in HIV. Answer: 1. Protease Inhibitor
2. RT Inhibitor
3. Integrase Inhibitory
4. Entry Inhibitor
there is no such thing called exit inhibitor -> NA glycoprotein on HIV
don't need to be targeted by anti-viral drug because it works on virus
egress -> no effect
⫸ Unique Characteristics of Enterovirus (Poliovirus). Answer: -
naked virus so stronger than other enveloped virus
- highly resistant to acidic pH in gastrointestinal (gut)
- highly resistant to acid so it resides in swimming pool
- transmitted by fecal- oral route
⫸ Pathogenesis of Poliovirus. Answer: - fecal- oral transmission
,- replicates in the gut (gastrointestinal system)
- once poliovirus particle is in blood, it targets CENTRAL NERVOUS
SYSTEM (infect nerve cells and kill them)
- infected person excretes virus in poop (so it is fecal- oral
transmission)
⫸ Describe polycistronic translation in Poliovirus and how they are
cleaved into individual proteins. Answer: - after polio translation,
polypeptide folds into structures and parts of the polyprotein are
[proteases] -> they become functional
- viral protease itself cleaves polio polyprotein into 20 individual
proteins (structural + replication proteins)
⫸ Virus Genome and Envelopedness of:
1. Poliovirus
2. Influenza
3. HIV. Answer: 1. Poliovirus: (+) ssRNA + naked virus
2. Influenza: 8 segments of (-) RNA, enveloped
3. HIV: 2 identical copies of (+)ssRNA, enveloped
⫸ Reason why influenza vaccines need to be administered each year.
Answer: - frequent mutations and gene arrangements in viral envelope
protein genes -> Ab from previous vaccine won't work
- due to antigenic drift (minor) + shift (endemic)
, ⫸ Why is the dsDNA product from reverse transcribing HIV's +RNA
during RT longer in length?. Answer: - due to RT process
- RT reads primer and terminator sequence on RNA and transcribes
those as well onto DNA
⫸ 3 Functions of Reverse Transcriptase (RT enzyme) in HIV
replication cycle. Answer: 1. RDDP (RNA dependent DNA pol) ->
reads (+)ssRNA and makes ssDNA
2, RNAse H -> degrades RNA in RNA:DNA hybrid
3. DDDP (DNA - dependent DNA pol) -> reads ssDNA and makes it
into dsDNA
⫸ Anti-Viral Therapy/Drugs (vProtein inhibitors) in Influenza and
HIV. Answer: Influenza:
1. NA Inhibitor (ex. Tamiflu)
- blocks NA protein from cleaving SA -> inhibits virus to infect new
cells -> prevents spreading
2. Ion Channel Inhibitor
- blocks H+ to acidify endosome -> no fusion of endosome +
envelope in influenza
HIV:
PAPER QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS 2026
VIEW AHEAD EXAM
⫸ Main reservoir of Poliovirus. Answer: HUMANS!
⫸ Targets of Anti-Viral Drugs in HIV. Answer: 1. Protease Inhibitor
2. RT Inhibitor
3. Integrase Inhibitory
4. Entry Inhibitor
there is no such thing called exit inhibitor -> NA glycoprotein on HIV
don't need to be targeted by anti-viral drug because it works on virus
egress -> no effect
⫸ Unique Characteristics of Enterovirus (Poliovirus). Answer: -
naked virus so stronger than other enveloped virus
- highly resistant to acidic pH in gastrointestinal (gut)
- highly resistant to acid so it resides in swimming pool
- transmitted by fecal- oral route
⫸ Pathogenesis of Poliovirus. Answer: - fecal- oral transmission
,- replicates in the gut (gastrointestinal system)
- once poliovirus particle is in blood, it targets CENTRAL NERVOUS
SYSTEM (infect nerve cells and kill them)
- infected person excretes virus in poop (so it is fecal- oral
transmission)
⫸ Describe polycistronic translation in Poliovirus and how they are
cleaved into individual proteins. Answer: - after polio translation,
polypeptide folds into structures and parts of the polyprotein are
[proteases] -> they become functional
- viral protease itself cleaves polio polyprotein into 20 individual
proteins (structural + replication proteins)
⫸ Virus Genome and Envelopedness of:
1. Poliovirus
2. Influenza
3. HIV. Answer: 1. Poliovirus: (+) ssRNA + naked virus
2. Influenza: 8 segments of (-) RNA, enveloped
3. HIV: 2 identical copies of (+)ssRNA, enveloped
⫸ Reason why influenza vaccines need to be administered each year.
Answer: - frequent mutations and gene arrangements in viral envelope
protein genes -> Ab from previous vaccine won't work
- due to antigenic drift (minor) + shift (endemic)
, ⫸ Why is the dsDNA product from reverse transcribing HIV's +RNA
during RT longer in length?. Answer: - due to RT process
- RT reads primer and terminator sequence on RNA and transcribes
those as well onto DNA
⫸ 3 Functions of Reverse Transcriptase (RT enzyme) in HIV
replication cycle. Answer: 1. RDDP (RNA dependent DNA pol) ->
reads (+)ssRNA and makes ssDNA
2, RNAse H -> degrades RNA in RNA:DNA hybrid
3. DDDP (DNA - dependent DNA pol) -> reads ssDNA and makes it
into dsDNA
⫸ Anti-Viral Therapy/Drugs (vProtein inhibitors) in Influenza and
HIV. Answer: Influenza:
1. NA Inhibitor (ex. Tamiflu)
- blocks NA protein from cleaving SA -> inhibits virus to infect new
cells -> prevents spreading
2. Ion Channel Inhibitor
- blocks H+ to acidify endosome -> no fusion of endosome +
envelope in influenza
HIV:
