Fostensavir trometamol 600 mg para o tratamento de indivíduos adultos vivendo com HIV multirresistentes aos antirretrovirais / Fostensavir trometamol 600 mg for the treatment of individuals adults living with multidrug-resistant HIV

INTRODUÇÃO: O HIV-1 é um vírus que apresenta em seu envelope viral a glicoproteína gp120, capaz de se ligar aos receptores CD4+ dos linfócitos T do hospedeiro, inviabilizando o funcionamento normal ou levando à destruição das células do sistema imune da pessoa vivendo com esse agente infeccioso. No contexto do tratamento contra o vírus, as quasispécies de HIV-1 podem sofrer uma ou mais mutações genéticas que afetam a atividade de um ou mais ARVs que já foram efetivos anteriormente, processo que é denominado resistência. Segundo a Organização Mundial de Saúde (OMS), observa-se em diversos países que a resistência atinge mais de 10% dos indivíduos em início ou reinício do tratamento contra o HIV. PERGUNTA: Fostensavir 600 mg é eficaz, custo-efetivo e seguro no tratamento de pessoas adultas vivendo com HIV-1 multirresistente aos ARVs? EVIDÊNCIAS CLÍNICAS: A partir da pergunta de pesquisa, foi desenvolvida estratégia de busca nas bases de dados MEDLINE via PubMed e EMBASE. A busca realizada resultou em 318 publicações. Foram inicialmente excluídas 72 por serem duplicatas. Posteriormente, foram excluídas outras 220 após triagem. Após leitura dos textos completos, chegou-se ao resultado de cinco publicações elegíveis, todas fruto do ensaio clínico randomizado de fase III, BRIGHTE. Foram relatados os desfechos de média de redução de carga viral, resposta virológica, falha virológica, variação média de linfócitos T CD4+, eventos adversos, morte, qualidade de vida e adesão ao tratamento. Em geral, o nível de certeza das evidências foi classificado como baixo, com risco de viés grave. AVALIAÇÃO ECONÔMICA: Utilizando um modelo de árvore de decisão, foi realizada uma análise para estimar a razão de custo-efetividade incremental (RCEI) do fostensavir 600 mg para pessoas vivendo com HIV-Aids, adultos e com multirresistência a pelo menos quatro classes terapêuticas de antirretrovirais desde que combinado a pelo menos um ARV totalmente ativo para um ano. O modelo comparou o fostensavir à terapia de base otimizada (TBO) apresentada no estudo pivotal BRIGHTE. ANÁLISE DE IMPACTO ORÇAMENTÁRIO: Foram projetados dois cenários de incorporação para a difusão do fostensavir: conservador e moderado. No cenário de difusão conservador (market share 10% ao ano), o impacto da incorporação do fostensavir em cinco anos variou entre R$ 10.975.053,60 e R$ 65.109.874,58, de 2024 a 2028 respectivamente. O impacto orçamentário acumulado em cinco anos no cenário conservador foi R$ 185.241.468,80. No cenário de difusão moderado (market share 20% ao ano), o impacto da incorporação em cinco anos variou entre R$ 10.975.053,60 e R$ 117.197.774,25, de 2024 a 2028. O impacto orçamentário acumulado em cinco anos no cenário de difusão moderado foi R$ 310.435.446,95. Monitoramento do horizonte tecnológico: Foram identificadas duas tecnologias para o tratamento de pessoas adultas convivendo com HIV multirresistente. Lenacapavir, que está registrado nas agências EMA e FDA, e ibalizumabe, com registro na FDA. PERSPECTIVA DO PACIENTE: A chamada pública nº 30/2023 ficou aberta entre 14 e 24 de agosto de 2023. Duas pessoas se inscreveram. O representante titular contou que tem 50 anos e há 25 vive com HIV. Acredita já ter usado todas as classes de medicamentos por conta da multirresistência do HIV aos ARV, chegando a ficar sem opção terapêutica por cinco ou seis anos. Atualmente utiliza a combinação maraviroque, dolutegravir, tenofovir, lamivudina, darunavir e ritonavir, com a qual consegue obter a supressão da carga viral. Ressaltou que quem vive com HIV há muito tempo corre o risco de ficar sem opção de medicamentos e que a incorporação de novas tecnologias pode beneficiar pessoas como ele. RECOMENDAÇÃO PRELIMINAR DA CONITEC: Os membros do Comitê de Medicamentos presentes na 125ª Reunião Ordinária, realizada no dia 6 de dezembro de 2023, deliberaram, por unanimidade, encaminhar o tema para consulta pública com recomendação preliminar favorável à incorporação do fostensavir trometamol 600 mg para o tratamento de pessoas vivendo com HIV-Aids multirresistentes a terapia antirretroviral. Considerou-se a oportunidade de uma opção terapêutica aos indivíduos multirresitentes, a capacidade das Câmaras Técnicas Estaduais e da área técnica do Ministério da Saúde no monitoramento dos benefícios clínicos e dos eventos adversos do fostensavir e a expectativa de uma nova proposta de preço encaminhada pela empresa durante a consulta pública. CONSULTA PÚBLICA: A consulta pública (CP) nº 69/2023 foi realizada entre os dias 29/12/2023 e 17/01/2024. Foram recebidas 11 contribuições, sendo sete pelo formulário para contribuições técnico-científico e quatro pelo formulário pra contribuições sobre experiência ou opinião de pacientes, familiares, amigos ou cuidadores de pacientes, profissionais de saúde ou pessoas interessadas no tema. Sobre as contribuições técnicas, todas foram favoráveis às recomendações preliminares da Conitec e uma possuía referencial teórico para a abordagem técnico-científica. Entretanto, não se identificou nenhuma evidência científica adicional que pudesse modificar o entendimento preliminar da Conitec. Nas contribuições de experiência ou opinião, todos os participantes manifestaram-se favoráveis à recomendação preliminar da tecnologia avaliada. Os argumentos relevantes foram classificados em "Sobrevida do paciente", uma vez que a abordagem foi especificamente quanto às falhas terapêuticas do uso de outros antirretrovirais e a evolução para complicações e óbito. Metade dos respondedores apontaram ter experiência com o fostensavir. No que diz respeito à experiência com outras tecnologias, um dos três respondentes, o paciente, mencionou o uso de medicamentos, como tenofovir, lamivudina, efavirenz e dolutegravir e apontou como evento negativo os seus efeitos colaterais. Além disso, destacaram o valor elevado da aquisição do fostensavir como uma das principais dificuldades para acesso a este tratamento. NOVA PROPOSTA COMERCIAL: Foi submetida ao DGITS/SECTICS/MS o valor de USD 38,67 por comprimido, com uma quantidade mínima de aquisição estabelecida em 360.000 (trezentos e sessenta mil) unidades. Considerando o novo valor proposto, o custo mensal do tratamento será de R$ 11.513,40, representando aproximadamente 65,59% de desconto em relação ao preço CMED PMVG 18% e uma redução de 1,66% em relação à proposta apresentada em 2023. Ainda com base no novo valor proposto, atualizou-se a avaliação econômica e a AIO. Os critérios considerados englobam os termos da recente proposta comercial e a taxa de câmbio do dólar no dia 15 de fevereiro de 2024, fixada em 1 USD = R$ 4,9624. A RCEI foi estimada em R$ 257.370,65, apresentando uma efetividade incremental de 0,54. No cenário conservador da nova AIO, levando em consideração uma participação de mercado de 10% ao ano, o impacto orçamentário incremental em cinco anos foi R$ 100.714.577,75. Já no cenário moderado, com um aumento de 20% após o primeiro ano, o impacto orçamentário acumulado em cinco anos foi R$ 247.300.234,85. RECOMENDAÇÃO FINAL DA CONITEC: Os membros do Comitê de Medicamentos presentes na 127ª Reunião Ordinária, realizada no dia 6 de março de 2024, deliberaram, por unanimidade, recomendar a incorporação do fostensavir trometamol 600 mg para o tratamento de indivíduos adultos vivendo com HIV multirresistentes aos antirretrovirais, conforme Protocolo Clínico do Ministério da Saúde. Considerou-se as expectativas da ampliação das opções terapêuticas e da redução da carga viral aos pacientes multirresistentes. Foi assinado o Registro de Deliberação nº 881/2024. DECISÃO: incorporar, no âmbito do Sistema Único de Saúde - SUS, o fostensavir trometamol 600 mg para o tratamento de indivíduos adultos vivendo com HIV multirresistente aos antirretrovirais, conforme Protocolo Clínico do Ministério da Saúde, publicada no Diário Oficial da União nº 77, seção 1, página 177, em 22 de abril de 2024.

Exploratory studies on soluble small molecule CD4 mimics as HIV entry inhibitors.

Several small molecule CD4 mimics, which inhibit the interaction of gp120 with CD4, have been developed. Original CD4 mimics such as NBD-556, which has an aromatic ring, an oxalamide linker and a piperidine moiety, possess significant anti-HIV activity but with their hydrophobic aromatic ring-containing structures are poorly soluble in water. We have developed derivatives with a halopyridinyl group in place of the phenyl group, such as KKN-134, and found them to have excellent aqueous solubility. Other leads that were examined are YIR-821, a compound with a cyclohexane group in a spiro attachment to a piperidine ring and a guanidino group on the piperidine nitrogen atom, and its PEGylated derivative, TKB-002. YIR-821 and TKB-002 retain potent anti-HIV activity. Here, new CD4 mimics, in which the phenyl group was replaced by a halopyridinyl group with the halogen atoms in different positions, their derivatives without a cyclohexane group on the piperidine ring and their hybrid molecules with PEG units were designed and synthesized. Some of these compounds show significantly higher aqueous solubility with maintenance of certain levels of anti-HIV activity. The present data should be useful in the future design of CD4 mimic molecules.

HIV-1 gp120 Antagonists Also Inhibit HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase by Bridging the NNRTI and NRTI Sites.

HIV-1 infection is typically treated using ≥2 drugs, including at least one HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitor. Drugs targeting RT comprise nucleos(t)ide RT inhibitors (NRTIs) and non-nucleoside RT inhibitors (NNRTIs). NRTI-triphosphates bind at the polymerase active site and, following incorporation, inhibit DNA elongation. NNRTIs bind at an allosteric pocket ∼10 Å away from the polymerase active site. This study focuses on compounds ("NBD derivatives") originally developed to bind to HIV-1 gp120, some of which inhibit RT. We have determined crystal structures of three NBD compounds in complex with HIV-1 RT, correlating with RT enzyme inhibition and antiviral activity, to develop structure-activity relationships. Intriguingly, these compounds bridge the dNTP and NNRTI-binding sites and inhibit the polymerase activity of RT in the enzymatic assays (IC50 < 5 µM). Two of the lead compounds, NBD-14189 and NBD-14270, show potent antiviral activity (EC50 < 200 nM), and NBD-14270 shows low cytotoxicity (CC50 > 100 µM).

Safety, pharmacokinetics and antiviral activity of PGT121, a broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibody against HIV-1: a randomized, placebo-controlled, phase 1 clinical trial.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1-specific broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibodies are currently under development to treat and prevent HIV-1 infection. We performed a single-center, randomized, double-blind, dose-escalation, placebo-controlled trial of a single administration of the HIV-1 V3-glycan-specific antibody PGT121 at 3, 10 and 30 mg kg-1 in HIV-uninfected adults and HIV-infected adults on antiretroviral therapy (ART), as well as a multicenter, open-label trial of one infusion of PGT121 at 30 mg kg-1 in viremic HIV-infected adults not on ART (no. NCT02960581). The primary endpoints were safety and tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK) and antiviral activity in viremic HIV-infected adults not on ART. The secondary endpoints were changes in anti-PGT121 antibody titers and CD4+ T-cell count, and development of HIV-1 sequence variations associated with PGT121 resistance. Among 48 participants enrolled, no treatment-related serious adverse events, potential immune-mediated diseases or Grade 3 or higher adverse events were reported. The most common reactions among PGT121 recipients were intravenous/injection site tenderness, pain and headache. Absolute and relative CD4+ T-cell counts did not change following PGT121 infusion in HIV-infected participants. Neutralizing anti-drug antibodies were not elicited. PGT121 reduced plasma HIV RNA levels by a median of 1.77 log in viremic participants, with a viral load nadir at a median of 8.5 days. Two individuals with low baseline viral loads experienced ART-free viral suppression for ≥168 days following antibody infusion, and rebound viruses in these individuals demonstrated full or partial PGT121 sensitivity. The trial met the prespecified endpoints. These data suggest that further investigation of the potential of antibody-based therapeutic strategies for long-term suppression of HIV is warranted, including in individuals off ART and with low viral load.

Design, synthesis, and evaluation of HIV-1 entry inhibitors based on broadly neutralizing antibody 447-52D and gp120 V3loop interactions.

The third variable loop region (V3 loop) on gp120 plays an important role in cellular entry of HIV-1. Its interaction with the cellular CD4 and coreceptors is an important hallmark in facilitating the bridging by gp41 and subsequent fusion of membranes for transfer of viral genetic material. Further, the virus phenotype determines the cell tropism via respective co- receptor binding. Thus, coreceptor binding motif of envelope is considered to be a potent anti-viral drug target for viral entry inhibition. However, its high variability in sequence is the major hurdle for developing inhibitors targeting the region. In this study, we have used an in silico Virtual Screening and "Fragment-based" method to design small molecules based on the gp120 V3 loop interactions with a potent broadly neutralizing human monoclonal antibody, 447-52D. From the in silico analysis a potent scaffold, 1,3,5-triazine was identified for further development. Derivatives of 1,3,5-triazine with specific functional groups were designed and synthesized keeping the interaction with co-receptor intact. Finally, preliminary evaluation of molecules for HIV-1 inhibition on two different virus strains (clade C, clade B) yielded IC50 < 5.0 µM. The approach used to design molecules based on broadly neutralizing antibody, was useful for development of target specific potent antiviral agents to prevent HIV entry. The study reported promising inhibitors that could be further developed and studied.

Design of gp120 HIV-1 entry inhibitors by scaffold hopping via isosteric replacements.

We present the development of alternative scaffolds and validation of their synthetic pathways as a tool for the exploration of new HIV gp120 inhibitors based on the recently discovered inhibitor of this class, NBD-14136. The new synthetic routes were based on isosteric replacements of the amine and acid precursors required for the synthesis of NBD-14136, guided by molecular modeling and chemical feasibility analysis. To ensure that these synthetic tools and new scaffolds had the potential for further exploration, we eventually tested few representative compounds from each newly designed scaffold against the gp120 inhibition assay and cell viability assays.

Synergistic Effect by Combining a gp120-Binding Protein and a gp41-Binding Antibody to Inactivate HIV-1 Virions and Inhibit HIV-1 Infection.

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) has prevailed over the last 30 years. Although highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has decreased mortality and efficiently controlled the progression of disease, no vaccine or curative drugs have been approved until now. A viral inactivator is expected to inactivate cell-free virions in the absence of target cells. Previously, we identified a gp120-binding protein, mD1.22, which can inactivate laboratory-adapted HIV-1. In this study, we have found that the gp41 N-terminal heptad repeat (NHR)-binding antibody D5 single-chain variable fragment (scFv) alone cannot inactivate HIV-1 at the high concentration tested. However, D5 scFv in the combination could enhance inactivation activity of mD1.22 against divergent HIV-1 strains, including HIV-1 laboratory-adapted strains, primary HIV-1 isolates, T20- and AZT-resistant strains, and LRA-reactivated virions. Combining mD1.22 and D5 scFv exhibited synergistic effect on inhibition of infection by divergent HIV-1 strains. These results suggest good potential to develop the strategy of combining a gp120-binding protein and a gp41-binding antibody for the treatment of HIV-1 infection.

E-pharmacophore based screening to identify potential HIV-1 gp120 and CD4 interaction blockers for wild and mutant types.

HIV-1 gp120 provides a multistage viral entry process through the conserved CD4 binding site. Hunting of potential blockers can diminish the interaction of gp120 with the CD4 host receptor leading to the suppression of HIV-1 infection. Structure-based pharmacophore virtual screening followed by binding free energy calculation, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and density functional theory (DFT) calculation is applied to discriminate the potential blockers from six small molecule databases. Five compounds from six databases exhibited vital interactions with key residues ASP368, GLU370, ASN425, MET426, TRP427 and GLY473 of gp120, involved in the binding with CD4, host receptor. Most importantly, compound NCI-254200 displayed strong communication with key residues of wild type and drug resistance single mutant gp120 (M426L and W427V) even in the dynamic condition, evidenced from MD simulation. This investigation provided a potential compound NCI-254200 which may show inhibitory activity against HIV-1 gp120 variant interactions with CD4 host cell receptors.

In Silico Selection of Gp120 ssDNA Aptamer to HIV-1.

Nucleic acid aptamers that specifically bind to other molecules are mostly obtained through the systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX). Because SELEX is a time-consuming procedure, the in silico design of specific aptamers has recently become a progressive approach. HIV-1 surface glycoprotein gp120, which is involved in the early stages of HIV-1 infection, is an attractive target for RNA and DNA aptamer selection. In this study, four single-stranded DNA aptamers, referred to as HD2, HD3, HD4, and HD5, that had the ability of HIV-1 inhibition were designed in silico. In a proposed non-SELEX approach, some parts of the B40 aptamer sequence, which interacted with gp120, were isolated and considered as a separate aptamer sequence. Then, to obtain the best docking scores of the HDOCK server and Hex software, some modifications, insertions, and deletions were applied to each selected sequence. Finally, the cytotoxicity and HIV inhibition of the selected aptamers were evaluated experimentally. Results demonstrated that the selected aptamers could inhibit HIV-1 infection by up to 80%, without any cytotoxicity. Therefore, this new non-SELEX approach could be considered a simple, fast, and efficient method for aptamer selection.

Preclinical Optimization of gp120 Entry Antagonists as anti-HIV-1 Agents with Improved Cytotoxicity and ADME Properties through Rational Design, Synthesis, and Antiviral Evaluation.

We previously reported a milestone in the optimization of NBD-11021, an HIV-1 gp120 antagonist, by developing a new and novel analogue, NBD-14189 (Ref1), which showed antiviral activity against HIV-1HXB2, with a half maximal inhibitory concentration of 89 nM. However, cytotoxicity remained high, and the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) data showed relatively poor aqueous solubility. To optimize these properties, we replaced the phenyl ring in the compound with a pyridine ring and synthesized a set of 48 novel compounds. One of the new analogues, NBD-14270 (8), showed a marked improvement in cytotoxicity, with 3-fold and 58-fold improvements in selectivity index value compared with that of Ref1 and NBD-11021, respectively. Furthermore, the in vitro ADME data clearly showed improvements in aqueous solubility and other properties compared with those for Ref1. The data for 8 indicated that the pyridine scaffold is a good bioisostere for phenyl, allowing the further optimization of this molecule.

Binding Insight of Anti-HIV Phytocompounds with Prime Targets of HIV: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Despite intense efforts, AIDS is difficult to tackle by current anti-retroviral therapy (ART) due to its side effects; therefore, there is an urgent need to discover potential, multitarget and low-cost anti-HIV compounds. OBJECTIVE: We have shown that few phytocompounds can potentially inhibit the prime targets of HIV namely GP120 envelope protein, reverse transcriptase, protease, integrase and ribonulcease. In this study, top ranked prioritized compounds were subjected to Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation in order to study the conformational dynamics and integrity of crucial interaction in the receptor sites. METHODS: The system was built for selected protein-ligand complex using TIP3P water model and OPLS_2005 force field. Trajectories were recorded up to 20 ns simulation time in Desmond module of Schrödinger software. RESULTS: As a result of a comprehensive analysis of molecular properties and dynamics of the complexes, it has been concluded that Chebulic acid, Curcumin and Mulberroside C could be developed as envelope glycoprotein GP120 inhibitor, reverse transcriptase inhibitor and protease inhibitor respectively. However, the fluctuation of Chebulic acid with respect to integrase and ribonuclease protein was higher during the simulation. CONCLUSION: These findings can aid in the designing of the structural properties for more effective anti-HIV compounds against the given targets.

Computational design, synthesis and evaluation of new sulphonamide derivatives targeting HIV-1 gp120.

Attachment of envelope glycoprotein gp120 to the host cell receptor CD4 is the first step during the human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) entry into the host cells that makes it a promising target for drug design. To elucidate the crucial three dimensional (3D) structural features of reported HIV-1 gp120 CD4 binding inhibitors, 3D pharmacophores were generated and receptor based approach was employed to quantify these structural features. A four-partial least square factor model with good statistics and predictive ability was generated for the dataset of 100 molecules. To further ascertain the structural requirement for gp120-CD4 binding inhibition, molecular interaction studies of inhibitors with gp120 was carried out by performing molecular docking using Glide 5.6. Based on these studies, structural requirements were drawn and new molecules were designed accordingly to yield new sulphonamides derivatives. A water based green synthetic approach was adopted to obtain these compounds which were evaluated for their HIV-1 gp120 CD4 binding inhibition. The newly synthesized compounds exhibited remarkable activity (10-fold increase) when compared with the standard BMS 806. Further the stability of newly synthesized derivatives with HIV-1 gp120 was also investigated through molecular dynamics simulation studies. This provides a proof of concept for molecular modeling based design of new inhibitors for inhibition of HIV-1 gp120 CD4 interaction.

The Discovery and Development of Oxalamide and Pyrrole Small Molecule Inhibitors of gp120 and HIV Entry - A Review.

Human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) is the causative agent responsible for the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) pandemic. More than 60 million infections and 25 million deaths have occurred since AIDS was first identified in the early 1980s. Advances in available therapeutics, in particular combination antiretroviral therapy, have significantly improved the treatment of HIV infection and have facilitated the shift from high mortality and morbidity to that of a manageable chronic disease. Unfortunately, none of the currently available drugs are curative of HIV. To deal with the rapid emergence of drug resistance, off-target effects, and the overall difficulty of eradicating the virus, an urgent need exists to develop new drugs, especially against targets critically important for the HIV-1 life cycle. Viral entry, which involves the interaction of the surface envelope glycoprotein, gp120, with the cellular receptor, CD4, is the first step of HIV-1 infection. Gp120 has been validated as an attractive target for anti-HIV-1 drug design or novel HIV detection tools. Several small molecule gp120 antagonists are currently under investigation as potential entry inhibitors. Pyrrole, piperazine, triazole, pyrazolinone, oxalamide, and piperidine derivatives, among others, have been investigated as gp120 antagonist candidates. Herein, we discuss the current state of research with respect to the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of oxalamide derivatives and five-membered heterocycles, namely, the pyrrole-containing small molecule as inhibitors of gp120 and HIV entry.

Recent Progress in the Development of HIV-1 Entry Inhibitors: From Small Molecules to Potent Anti-HIV Agents.

Viral entry, the first process in the reproduction of viruses, primarily involves attachment of the viral envelope proteins to membranes of the host cell. The crucial components that play an important role in viral entry include viral surface glycoprotein gp120, viral transmembrane glycoprotein gp41, host cell glycoprotein (CD4), and host cell chemokine receptors (CCR5 and CXCR4). Inhibition of the multiple molecular interactions of these components can restrain viruses, such as HIV-1, from fusion with the host cell, blocking them from reproducing. This review article specifically focuses on the recent progress in the development of small-molecule HIV-1 entry inhibitors and incorporates important aspects of their structural modification that lead to the discovery of new molecular scaffolds with more potency.

Development of Protein- and Peptide-Based HIV Entry Inhibitors Targeting gp120 or gp41.

Application of highly active antiretroviral drugs (ARDs) effectively reduces morbidity and mortality in HIV-infected individuals. However, the emergence of multiple drug-resistant strains has led to the increased failure of ARDs, thus calling for the development of anti-HIV drugs with targets or mechanisms of action different from those of the current ARDs. The first peptide-based HIV entry inhibitor, enfuvirtide, was approved by the U.S. FDA in 2003 for treatment of HIV/AIDS patients who have failed to respond to the current ARDs, which has stimulated the development of several series of protein- and peptide-based HIV entry inhibitors in preclinical and clinical studies. In this review, we highlighted the properties and mechanisms of action for those promising protein- and peptide-based HIV entry inhibitors targeting the HIV-1 gp120 or gp41 and discussed their advantages and disadvantages, compared with the current ARDs.

Lattice engineering enables definition of molecular features allowing for potent small-molecule inhibition of HIV-1 entry.

Diverse entry inhibitors targeting the gp120 subunit of the HIV-1 envelope (Env) trimer have been developed including BMS-626529, also called temsavir, a prodrug version of which is currently in phase III clinical trials. Here we report the characterization of a panel of small-molecule inhibitors including BMS-818251, which we show to be >10-fold more potent than temsavir on a cross-clade panel of 208-HIV-1 strains, as well as the engineering of a crystal lattice to enable structure determination of the interaction between these inhibitors and the HIV-1 Env trimer at higher resolution. By altering crystallization lattice chaperones, we identify a lattice with both improved diffraction and robust co-crystallization of HIV-1 Env trimers from different clades complexed to entry inhibitors with a range of binding affinities. The improved diffraction reveals BMS-818251 to utilize functional groups that interact with gp120 residues from the conserved ß20-ß21 hairpin to improve potency.

Rational Design of Colchicine Derivatives as anti-HIV Agents via QSAR and Molecular Docking.

BACKGROUND: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is an infective agent that causes an acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Therefore, the rational design of inhibitors for preventing the progression of the disease is required. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to construct quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models, molecular docking and newly rational design of colchicine and derivatives with anti-HIV activity. METHODS: A data set of 24 colchicine and derivatives with anti-HIV activity were employed to develop the QSAR models using machine learning methods (e.g. multiple linear regression (MLR), artificial neural network (ANN) and support vector machine (SVM)), and to study a molecular docking. RESULTS: The significant descriptors relating to the anti-HIV activity included JGI2, Mor24u, Gm and R8p+ descriptors. The predictive performance of the models gave acceptable statistical qualities as observed by correlation coefficient (Q2) and root mean square error (RMSE) of leave-one out cross-validation (LOO-CV) and external sets. Particularly, the ANN method outperformed MLR and SVM methods that displayed LOO-CV 2 Q and RMSELOO-CV of 0.7548 and 0.5735 for LOOCV set, and Ext 2 Q of 0.8553 and RMSEExt of 0.6999 for external validation. In addition, the molecular docking of virus-entry molecule (gp120 envelope glycoprotein) revealed the key interacting residues of the protein (cellular receptor, CD4) and the site-moiety preferences of colchicine derivatives as HIV entry inhibitors for binding to HIV structure. Furthermore, newly rational design of colchicine derivatives using informative QSAR and molecular docking was proposed. CONCLUSION: These findings serve as a guideline for the rational drug design as well as potential development of novel anti-HIV agents.

Unexpected synergistic HIV neutralization by a triple microbicide produced in rice endosperm.

The transmission of HIV can be prevented by the application of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies and lectins. Traditional recombinant protein manufacturing platforms lack sufficient capacity and are too expensive for developing countries, which suffer the greatest disease burden. Plants offer an inexpensive and scalable alternative manufacturing platform that can produce multiple components in a single plant, which is important because multiple components are required to avoid the rapid emergence of HIV-1 strains resistant to single microbicides. Furthermore, crude extracts can be used directly for prophylaxis to avoid the massive costs of downstream processing and purification. We investigated whether rice could simultaneously produce three functional HIV-neutralizing proteins (the monoclonal antibody 2G12, and the lectins griffithsin and cyanovirin-N). Preliminary in vitro tests showed that the cocktail of three proteins bound to gp120 and achieved HIV-1 neutralization. Remarkably, when we mixed the components with crude extracts of wild-type rice endosperm, we observed enhanced binding to gp120 in vitro and synergistic neutralization when all three components were present. Extracts of transgenic plants expressing all three proteins also showed enhanced in vitro binding to gp120 and synergistic HIV-1 neutralization. Fractionation of the rice extracts suggested that the enhanced gp120 binding was dependent on rice proteins, primarily the globulin fraction. Therefore, the production of HIV-1 microbicides in rice may not only reduce costs compared to traditional platforms but may also provide functional benefits in terms of microbicidal potency.

HIV-1 targets L-selectin for adhesion and induces its shedding for viral release.

CD4 and chemokine receptors mediate HIV-1 attachment and entry. They are, however, insufficient to explain the preferential viral infection of central memory T cells. Here, we identify L-selectin (CD62L) as a viral adhesion receptor on CD4+ T cells. The binding of viral envelope glycans to L-selectin facilitates HIV entry and infection, and L-selectin expression on central memory CD4+ T cells supports their preferential infection by HIV. Upon infection, the virus downregulates L-selectin expression through shedding, resulting in an apparent loss of central memory CD4+ T cells. Infected effector memory CD4+ T cells, however, remain competent in cytokine production. Surprisingly, inhibition of L-selectin shedding markedly reduces HIV-1 infection and suppresses viral release, suggesting that L-selectin shedding is required for HIV-1 release. These findings highlight a critical role for cell surface sheddase in HIV-1 pathogenesis and reveal new antiretroviral strategies based on small molecular inhibitors targeted at metalloproteinases for viral release.

HIV-1 Entry Inhibitors: A Review of Experimental and Computational Studies.

The HIV-1 life cycle consists of different events, such as cell entry and fusion, virus replication, assembly and release of the newly formed virions. The more logical way to inhibit HIV transmission among individuals is to inhibit its entry into the immune host cells rather than targeting the intracellular viral enzymes. Both viral and host cell surface receptors and co-receptors are regarded as potential targets in anti-HIV-1 drug design process. Because of the importance of this topic it was decided to summarize recent reports on small-molecule HIV-1 entry inhibitors that have not been considered in the latest released reviews. All the computational studies reported in the literature regarding HIV-1 entry inhibitors since 2014 was also considered in this review.