Week 1 Quiz - Chapters 14, 15, & 16
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AZT is a drug that is commonly used to fight HIV infection. The active component of AZT is a DNA nucleotide
analog that is shaped almost, but not exactly, like a thymine nucleotide: at the 3' end of the analog is a
nitrogen group instead of the 3' OH group. Because of its structure, AZT is only able to bond with one other
nucleotide, whereas a typical nucleotide is able to bond with two nucleotides (one at its 3' carbon and another
at its 5' carbon). Reverse transcriptase, which uses viral RNA as a template to synthesize DNA, will use the
AZT instead of using normal nucleotides. The polymerases in our cells will not use AZT. Considering this
information, together with what you learned about DNA replication in section 8.2, what is the most likely
explanation for how AZT prevents HIV replication?
Multiple Choice
The DNA strand produced by reverse transcriptase will be complete, but it will produce
SIV proteins instead of HIV proteins.
The DNA strand produced by reverse transcriptase will stop being synthesized the first
time the nucleotide analog is inserted.
The host DNA will incorporate AZT during DNA replication, and the viral genome will be
unable to integrate into the host genome.
The RNA strand produced by reverse transcriptase will be complete, but it will have
incorrect nucleotides in it, resulting in nonfunctional HIV proteins.
