Drugs such as AZT and ddI are nucleoside analogs used in HIV-infected patients.

Question

Drugs such as AZT and ddI are nucleoside analogs used in HIV-infected patients. Both are chemically modified versions of the nucleotides that make up DNA and RNA. These modified nucleosides interfere with normal replication and transcription. The MOST important goal of these drugs would be:

to prevent the replication of host cell DNA so that the host cell cannot function

to prevent the transcription of host cell RNA so that no proteins can be expressed

to prevent the viral nucleic acid from entering the host cells

to prevent replication of the viral genome

to prevent the replication of host cell DNA so that the host cell cannot function

to prevent the transcription of host cell RNA so that no proteins can be expressed

to prevent the viral nucleic acid from entering the host cells

to prevent replication of the viral genome

Explanation / Answer

Answer:

d. to prevent replication of the viral genome

Explanation:

AZT is active against HIV when the virus is replicating into proviral DNA (viral DNA synthesized prior to integration into host DNA). This is because the active compound of AZT, known as zidovudine 5-triphosphate, has a high affinity (attraction) for an enzyme called reverse transcriptase, which is used by retroviruses such as HIV to replicate viral single-stranded RNA (ribonucleic acid) into proviral double-stranded DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid).

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