BIOCHEMISTRY MCQS 1-25

1. RNA polymerase requires all of the following EXCEPT

a. Template (ds DNA )
b. Activated precursors (ATP, GTP, UTP, CTP)
c. Divalent metal ions (Mn2+ , Mg2+ )
d. Primer

2. Which one is the segment of a eukaryotic gene that is not represented in the
mature m-RNA ?
a. Intron
b. Exon
c. Plasmid
d. TATA box

3. The similarity between vit C and vit K is:

a. Both are involved in coagulation cascade
b. Both help in post-translational modification
c. Both help in conversion of praline to hydroxyproline
d. Both have anti infective activity.

4. _______element is known to influence the body’s ability to handle oxidative

stress.
a. Calcium
b. Iron
c. Potassium
d. Selenium

5. Which is the enzyme that makes a double stranded DNA copy from a single
stranded RNA template molecule?
a. DNA Polymerase
b. RNA Polymerase
c. Reverse Transcriptase
d. Phosphokinase

6. Which separation technique depends on the molecular size of the protein?

a. Chromatography on a carboxymethyl cellulose column
b. Iso-electric focusing
c. Gel filtration chromatography
d. Chromatography on a diethylaminoethyl cellulose column

7. Which one of the following is product of β-oxidation of odd-chain fatty acids?

a. Succinyl CoA
b. Propionyl CoA
c. Acetyl CoA
d. Malonyl CoA
8. ______ is a membrane bound enzyme that catalyzes the formation of cyclic AMP
from ATP.
a. Tyrosine Kinase
b. Polymerase
c. ATP synthase
d. Adenylate cyclase

9. All are actions of insulin EXCEPT-

a. lipogenesis
b. glycolysis
c. glycogenesis
d. gluconeogenesis

10. Which one of the following is true for Nitric Oxide Synthase?
a. It is inhibited by Ca++
b. It catalyzes a dioxygenase reaction.
c. It requires NADPH, FAD, FMN and Heme iron.
d. It accepts electrons from NADH.

11. Which one of the following amino acid is responsible for elasticity of the corneal
layer of skin?
a. Histidine
b. Lysine
c. Cysteine
d. Keratin

12. Which one of the following cannot be used to detect mutation?

a. Single strand conformational polymorphism
b. Ligase chain reaction
c. Polymerase chain reaction
d. DNA Sequencing

13. Phenylalanine is not the precursor of :

a. Epinephrine
b. Melatonin
c. Tyrosine
d. Thyroxine

14. Which one of the following is best parameter to monitor Thiamine level?
a. Transketolase level in blood
b. Thiamine level in blood
c. Reticulocytosis
d. G6PD activity
15. Fluorescamine is used to detect:
a. Fatty acids
b. Glucose
c. Amino acids
d. All

16. Copper is required in collagen synthesis for:

a. Lysol hydroxylase
b. Lysol oxidase
c. Prolyl oxidase
d. Prolyl hydroxylase

17. Which one of the following is an example of phosphoprotein?

a. Ceruloplasmin
b. Albumin
c. Casein
d. Histone

18. At higher temperature, why most of the mammalian enzymes become inactive?
a. Cleavage of peptide bonds
b. Loss of tertiary structure
c. Loss of sulfhydryl groups
d. Liberation of amino acids

19. ______ is an example of antioxidant endogenous enzyme.

a. Xanthine oxidase
b. Cytochrome oxidase
c. Superoxide dismutase
d. Creatine kinase

20. In competitive inhibition the relation between Km and Vmax is one the following:
a. Km and Vmax are the same
b. Km and Vmax decreases
c. Km increases and Vmax remains the same
d. Km decreases and Vmax increases.

21. Which one of the following is non vitamin co enzyme?

a. S-adenyosyl methionine
b. Niacin
c. CoA
d. Lipoic acid
 22. _______ are the enzymes playing role in transfer of one molecule to another.
a. Oxidases
b. Transferases
c. Peptidases
d. Lysases

23. Supplementation of Vitamin B12 and folic acid in megaloblastic anemia leads to
the improvement of anemia due to:
a. Increased Haemoglobin production
b. Increased DNA synthesis in bone marrow
c. Increased iron absorption
d. Erythroid hyperplasia

24. Level of creatinine kinase – I is found increased in :

a. Myocardial Ischemia
b. Brain Ischemia
c. Electrical cardioversion
d. Kidney damage

25. _______ is an enzyme involved in the catabolism of fructose to pyruvate in the

liver.
a. Lactate- dehydrogenase
b. Glucokinase
c. Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate Dehydrogenase
d. Phosphoglucomutase

Answers with explanations

1. ans is D ( Primer)
RNA polymerase does not require a primer to initiate transcription while
DNA polymerase requires it.
RNA polymerase holoenzyme requires the following:
Template of double stranded DNA
Four ribonucleotide triphosphates GTP, ATP, UTP, CTP
Mn2+ or Mg2+

2. ans is A ( Introns )
The primary RNA transcripts contain two types of sequences:
Introns (intervening sequences): sequences that do not code/ contribute to the
genetic information ultimately translated into the amino acid sequences of
protein molecule
Exons (expressed sequences): sequences that code for various amino acids.
This primary transcript undergoes extensive processing which involves
cleaving out of the intervening introns (non coding sequence) and splicing
(ligation) together of the exons (coding sequences).
 Thus introns are removed from the primary transcript and exons are ligated
together to form mRNA molecule.

3. ans is B (Post-translational modification)

Vit C is required for post-translational modification of praline and lysine in
collagen synthesis.
Vit K is required for post-translational modification of glutamate residues for
generation of clotting factors.
Only vit C helps in conversion of praline to hydroxyproline.
Only vit K is involved in coagulation cascade(generates biologically active
clotting factors).
None of these has antiinfective properties, which is a feature of vit A mainly.

4. ans is D (Selenium)
Selenium in the form of selenocysteine is a component of enzyme glutathione
peroxidase.
Glutathione peroxidase helps to protect proteins, cell membranes, lipid and
nucleic acids from oxidant molecules.

5. ans is C (Reverse Transcriptase)

Reverse transcriptase is an RNA dependent DNA polymerase that produces
double stranded DNA copies of RNA templates.
DNA polymerase – synthesizes DNA from DNA
RNA polymerase – synthesizes RNA from DNA
Phosphokinase – adds a phosphate moiety

6. ans is C (Gel filtration chromatography)

Gel filtration chromatography – separates protein molecules based on their
size (molecular weight).
Iso-electric focusing – separates proteins based on the iso-electric pH.
Ion-exchange chromatography – on carboxymethyl (CM) cellulose medium or
diethylaminoethyl (DEAE) cellulose medium, in which proteins are separated
based on electrostatic attraction between charged molecules and oppositely
charged groups on ion exchange resins (i.e. DEAE & CM).

7. ans is B ( propionyl CoA)

End product of β-oxidation of even-chain fatty acid is Acetyl CoA.
End product of β-oxidation of odd-chain fatty acid is Propionyl CoA.

8. ans is D (Adenyl Cyclase)

Adenyl cyclase is an enzyme that occurs on the surface of cell membranes.
Cyclic AMP is an important second messenger that is formed from ATP by
the action of enzyme Adenyl cyclase.
Cyclic AMP acts by activating a cyclic nucleotide-dependent protein kinase
(protein kinase A) which catalyzes the phosphorylation.
9. ans is D (Gluconeogenesis)
Insulin inhibits gluconeogenesis. (Insulin would not support anything that
would tend to increase blood sugar levels)
Insulin promotes uptake of glucose from the blood and drives it inside the
cells for:
Utilization for energy production – glycolysis
Storage in the form of glycogen – glycogenesis
Storage as lipids – lipogenesis.

10. ans is C (requires NADPH, FAD, FMN, Heme iron)

NO is formed by the action of the cytosolic enzyme NO synthase.
NO synthase is very complex enzyme employing five redox cofactors -
NADPH, FAD, FMN, Heme iron,tetrahydrobiopterin.
Substrates: arginine, NADPH, O2
Co-enzymes: FAD, FMN, Heme iron,tetrahydrobiopterin
Products: NO and citrulline
Enzymes: Ca++ -calmodulin-dependent enzyme, Ca++ -independent enzyme

11. ans is D ( keratin)

The keratinized stratum corneum is tough, strong, flexible and elastic. Its
stability and integrity are due to cross linkages between the keratin molecules.

12. ans is B (ligase chain reaction)

mutation screening techniques:
cytogenic analysis
fluorescent in situ hybridizatioin (FISH)
southern blot
polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
reverse transcriptase PCR
DNA sequencing
Single-strand conformational polymorphism
Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE)
RNAse cleavage
Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP)

13. ans is B (melatonin)

Melatonin is formed from tryptophan/serotonin and not from
tyrosine/phenylalanine.
Tyrosine is formed from phenylalanine.
Tyrosine is also a precursor for epinephrine, norepinephrine, thyroxine and tri-
iodo-thyronine.

14. ans is A (transketolase level in blood)

thiamine deficiency is diagnosed by an increase in erythrocyte transketolase
activity observed upon addition of thiamine pyrophosphate.
15. ans is C (amino acids)
Fluorescmine is a fluorescent dye so it is used to detect aromatic amino acid.

16. ans is A (lysol oxidase)

Collagen fibres are stabilized by formation of covalent cross link, both within
and between triple helical units. These cross links are formed through action
of Lysol oxidase, which is a copper containing protein that converts E amino
group to aldehydes.

17. ans is C (Casein)

Casein and Ovovittelin are the two important group of phosphoproteins found
in milk and egg-yolk respectively.

18. ans is B (loss of tertiary structure)

Increase in temperature disrupts the noncovalent interactions that maintains
the enzyme three dimensional (tertiary) structure.

19. ans is C (superoxide dismutase)

oxygen toxicity is caused by superoxide radicals. Tissues are protected from
superoxide by superoxide dismutase.
Cytochromes – hemoproteins acting as electron carrier
Xanthine oxidase – used in purine and pyrimidine synthesis
Creatine kinase – catalyze the formation of creatine phosphate.

20. ans is C (Km increases and Vmax is the same)

competitive inhibition – Km is high, Vmax is same
non competitive inhibition – Vmax lowered, Km is unaltered.

21. ans is D (lipoic acid)

classification of coenzymes:
for transfer of groups other than hydrogen
sugar phosphates
CoAsH
Thiamine pyrophosphate
Pyridoxial phosphate
Folate coenzymes
Biotin
Lipoic acid
For transfer of hydrogen
NAD+, NADP+
FMN, FAD
Lipoic acid
Coenzyme Q
22. ans is B (transferases)
Transferases are enzymes that catalyze the transfer of functional groups from
one molecule to another.

23. ans is A (increased DNA synthesis in bone marrow)

Deficiency of Vit B12 leads to impaired purine and pyrimidine synthesis
which leads to impaired DNA synthesis. This prevents cell division and
formation of nucleus of new RBCs leading to megaloblastic anemia.

24. ans is B (brain ischemia)

creatinine phosphokinase exists as three isoenzymes in human tissues:
CPK 1 or CPK-BB: found in brain
CPK 2 or CPK-MB: found in myocardium
CPK 3 or CPK-MM: found in skeletal muscle

25. ans is (Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase)

Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase is an enzyme in the pathway for
conversion of fructose to pyruvate.

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