ABSTRACT
In addition to a variety of viral-glycoprotein receptors (e.g., heparan sulfate, Niemann-Pick C1, etc.), dendritic cell-specific intercellular adhesion molecule-3-grabbing nonintegrin (DC-SIGN), from the C-type lectin receptor family, plays one of the most important pathogenic functions for a wide range of viruses (e.g., Ebola, human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), HIV-1, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, etc.) that invade host cells before replication; thus, its inhibition represents a relevant extracellular antiviral therapy. We report two novel p-tBu-calixarene glycoclusters 1 and 2, bearing tetrahydroxamic acid groups, which exhibit micromolar inhibition of soluble DC-SIGN binding and provide nanomolar IC50 inhibition of both DC-SIGN-dependent Jurkat cis-cell infection by viral particle pseudotyped with Ebola virus glycoprotein and the HCMV-gB-recombinant glycoprotein interaction with monocyte-derived dendritic cells expressing DC-SIGN. A unique cooperative involvement of sugar, linker, and calixarene core is likely behind the strong avidity of DC-SIGN for these low-valent systems. We claim herein new promising candidates for the rational development of a large spectrum of antiviral therapeutics.
Subject(s)
Calixarenes/chemistry , Cell Adhesion Molecules/antagonists & inhibitors , Glycoconjugates/metabolism , Glycoproteins/antagonists & inhibitors , Hydroxamic Acids/chemistry , Lectins, C-Type/antagonists & inhibitors , Phenols/chemistry , Receptors, Cell Surface/antagonists & inhibitors , Viral Proteins/antagonists & inhibitors , Antiviral Agents/chemistry , Antiviral Agents/metabolism , Antiviral Agents/pharmacology , Cell Adhesion Molecules/metabolism , Cell Line , Cytomegalovirus/metabolism , Dendritic Cells/cytology , Dendritic Cells/metabolism , Ebolavirus/physiology , Glycoconjugates/chemistry , Glycoconjugates/pharmacology , Glycoproteins/genetics , Glycoproteins/metabolism , Humans , Jurkat Cells , Lectins, C-Type/metabolism , Models, Biological , Protein Binding , Receptors, Cell Surface/metabolism , Recombinant Proteins/biosynthesis , Recombinant Proteins/chemistry , Recombinant Proteins/isolation & purification , Viral Proteins/genetics , Viral Proteins/metabolismABSTRACT
The importance of vaccine-induced protection was repeatedly demonstrated over the last three decades and emphasized during the recent COVID-19 pandemic as the safest and most effective way of preventing infectious diseases. Vaccines have controlled, and in some cases, eradicated global viral and bacterial infections with high efficiency and at a relatively low cost. Carbohydrates form the capsular sugar coat that surrounds the outer surface of human pathogenic bacteria. Specific surface-exposed bacterial carbohydrates serve as potent vaccine targets that broadened our toolbox against bacterial infections. Since first approved for commercial use, antibacterial carbohydrate-based vaccines mostly rely on inherently complex and heterogenous naturally derived polysaccharides, challenging to obtain in a pure, safe, and cost-effective manner. The introduction of synthetic fragments identical with bacterial capsular polysaccharides provided well-defined and homogenous structures that resolved many challenges of purified polysaccharides. The success of semisynthetic glycoconjugate vaccines against bacterial infections, now in different phases of clinical trials, opened up new possibilities and encouraged further development towards fully synthetic antibacterial vaccine solutions. In this mini-review, we describe the recent achievements in semi- and fully synthetic carbohydrate vaccines against a range of human pathogenic bacteria, focusing on preclinical and clinical studies.