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 it resistant to these competitive inhibitors. Where in the reverse transcriptase enzyme would such amino acid changes most likely occur in drug-resistant viruses?
A)in or near the active site
B)at an allosteric site
C)at a cofactor binding site
D)in regions of the protein that determine packaging into the virus capsid
E)such mutations could occur anywhere with equal probability

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Amino acid changes that make HIV resistant to competitive inhibitors would most likely occur in or near the active site of the reverse transcriptase enzyme, where the inhibitor binds and blocks the enzyme's activity. Mutations at other sites in the enzyme would not necessarily confer resistance to inhibitors.

Some of the Drugs Used to Treat HIV Patients Are