Some of the drugs used to treat HIV patients are competitive inhibitors of the HIV reverse transcriptase enzyme. Unfortunately, the high mutation rate of HIV means that the virus rapidly acquires mutations with amino acid changes that make them resistant to these competitive inhibitors. Where in the reverse transcriptase enzyme would such amino acid changes most likely occur in drug-resistant viruses?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Competitive inhibitors bind to the active site of an enzyme to block substrate binding. Therefore, mutations that prevent inhibitor binding are most likely to occur in or near the active site of the enzyme.

Some of the Drugs Used to Treat HIV Patients Are