Citation: Shujing Xu, Lin Sun, Waleed A. Zalloum, Xujie Zhang, Tianguang Huang, Dang Ding, Yucen Tao, Fabao Zhao, Shenghua Gao, Dongwei Kang, Erik De Clercq, Christophe Pannecouque, Alexej Dick, Simon Cocklin, Xinyong Liu, Peng Zhan. From design to biological mechanism evaluation of phenylalanine-bearing HIV-1 capsid inhibitors targeting a vital assembly interface[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2023, 34(3): 107611. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2022.06.034 shu

From design to biological mechanism evaluation of phenylalanine-bearing HIV-1 capsid inhibitors targeting a vital assembly interface

Shujing Xu ^a ,
Lin Sun ^a ,
Waleed A. Zalloum ^b ,
Xujie Zhang ^a ,
Tianguang Huang ^a ,
Dang Ding ^a ,
Yucen Tao ^a ,
Fabao Zhao ^a ,
Shenghua Gao ^a ,
Dongwei Kang ^a ,
Erik De Clercq ^c ,
Christophe Pannecouque ^{c, *,} ,
Alexej Dick ^{d, *,} ,
Simon Cocklin ^{d, *,} ,
Xinyong Liu ^{a, *,} ,
Peng Zhan ^{a, *,}

a.
Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University, Ji'nan 250012, China
b.
Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Science, American University of Madaba, Amman 11821, Jordan
c.
Rega Institute for Medical Research, Laboratory of Virology and Chemotherapy, K.U. Leuven, Leuven B 3000, Belgium
d.
Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19102, United States

christophe.pannecouque@kuleuven.be

ad3474@drexel.edu

sc349@drexel.edu

xinyongl@sdu.edu.cn

zhanpeng1982@sdu.edu.cn

Received Date: 21 March 2022
Revised Date: 12 June 2022
Accepted Date: 14 June 2022
Available Online: 18 June 2022

Figures(4)

HIV-1 capsid protein (CA) has emerged as a promising target for antiviral treatment considering its structural and regulatory roles in HIV-1 replication. Here, we disclose the design, synthesis, biological assessment, and mechanism investigation of a novel series of phenylalanine derivatives gained by further structural modification of PF74. The newly synthesized compounds demonstrated potent anti-HIV activity, represented by 7n displayed anti-HIV-1 activity 6.25-fold better than PF74, and 7h showed anti-HIV-2 activity with nearly 139 times improved efficacy over PF74. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) studies of representative compounds proved that HIV-1 CA was the binding target. Competitive SPR studies using CPSF6 and NUP153 peptides identified that 7n binds to a vital CA assembly interface between the N-terminal and C-terminal domain (NTD-CTD interface). Action stage determination assay revealed that the newly synthesized compounds were antiviral with a dual-stage inhibitory profile. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations offered the crucial foundation for the hopeful antiviral potency of 7n. Besides, 7m and 7n modestly increased metabolic stabilities in human liver microsome (HLM) and human plasma compared to PF74. Overall, these studies offer valuable insights and can regard as the beginning for succedent medicinal chemistry endeavors to discover promising HIV capsid inhibitors with improved efficacy and better drug-like characteristics.
- HIV-1,
- Capsid inhibitor,
- Assembly,
- NTD-CTD interface,
- Drug design
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沈阳化工大学材料科学与工程学院沈阳 110142