If an antiretroviral drug is designed to inhibit an enzyme required for the growth of the virus in an infected cell,which enzyme's inhibition is likely to be both effective and least toxic to the host cell?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Antiretroviral drugs target specific enzymes involved in the replication of the virus. RNA-dependent DNA polymerase, also known as reverse transcriptase, is essential for the virus to convert its RNA genome into DNA before integrating it into a host cell's genome. Inhibition of this enzyme effectively blocks the viral life cycle without significantly affecting the host cell's DNA replication process. Moreover, many antiretroviral drugs targeting reverse transcriptase have been developed, such as nucleoside/nucleotide analogs, non-nucleoside inhibitors, and integrase strand transfer inhibitors, which have been proven to be effective and relatively safe for treating HIV infection. On the other hand, inhibiting other enzymes, such as RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, DNA-dependent DNA polymerase, or DNA-dependent RNA polymerase, would not be as effective against retroviruses and might have adverse effects on the host cell's transcription and translation.

If an Antiretroviral Drug Is Designed to Inhibit an Enzyme