In vitro antiretroviral activity and in vitro toxicity profile of SPD754, a new deoxycytidine nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor for treatment of human immunodeficiency virus infection.

SPD754 (AVX754) is a deoxycytidine analogue nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) in clinical development. These studies characterized the in vitro activity of SPD754 against NRTI-resistant human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and non-clade B HIV-1 isolates, its activity in combination with other antiretrovirals, and its potential myelotoxicity and mitochondrial toxicity. SPD754 was tested against 50 clinical HIV-1 isolates (5 wild-type isolates and 45 NRTI-resistant isolates) in MT-4 cells using the Antivirogram assay. SPD754 susceptibility was reduced 1.2- to 2.2-fold against isolates resistant to zidovudine (M41L, T215Y/F, plus a median of three additional nucleoside analogue mutations [NAMs]) and/or lamivudine (M184V) and was reduced 1.3- to 2.8-fold against isolates resistant to abacavir (L74V, Y115F, and M184V plus one other NAM) or stavudine (V75T/M, M41L, T215F/Y, and four other NAMs). Insertions at amino acid position 69 and Q151M mutations (with or without M184V) reduced SPD754 susceptibility 5.2-fold and 14- to 16-fold, respectively (these changes gave values comparable to or less than the corresponding values for zidovudine, lamivudine, abacavir, and didanosine). SPD754 showed similar activity against isolates of group M HIV-1 clades, including A/G, B, C, D, A(E), D/F, F, and H. SPD754 showed additive effects in combination with other NRTIs, tenofovir, nevirapine, or saquinavir. SPD754 had no significant effects on cell viability or mitochondrial DNA in HepG2 or MT-4 cells during 28-day exposure at concentrations up to 200 microM. SPD754 showed a low potential for myelotoxicity against human bone marrow. In vitro, SPD754 retained activity against most NRTI-resistant HIV-1 clinical isolates and showed a low propensity to cause myelotoxicity and mitochondrial toxicity.

Development of novel nucleoside analogues for use against drug resistant strains of HIV-1.

Nucleoside analogue inhibitors of the reverse transcriptase (RT) enzyme of HIV-1 were the first class of compounds to be used in anti-HIV-1 therapy and are a cornerstone in highly active antiretroviral therapy. Despite the number of inhibitors of HIV-1 RT available for clinical use at the present time and the effectiveness of these compounds in combination regimens, long-term exposure of patients to these drugs often results in the development of viral resistance or long-term toxicity. For this reason, efforts to identify new agents with activity against drug-resistant strains of HIV-1 and with a toxicity profile that allows for individual patient tolerance of the drugs are still warranted.

Synthesis and antiviral activities of N-9-oxypurine 1,3-dioxolane and 1,3-oxathiolane nucleosides.

Two series of 1,3-dioxolanes and 1,3-oxathiolane nucleosides containing N-9-oxypurine were synthesized as potential antiviral agents. These compounds were prepared by reacting the sugar moieties with iodo- or bromotrimethylsilane, followed by treatment with a mixture of sodium hydride and the desired N-hydroxy purine base. The preparation of these N-hydroxybases was also described. No significant antiviral activity was observed against HIV, HBV, HSV-1, HSV-2, or HCMV.

Mechanism of action and in vitro activity of 1',3'-dioxolanylpurine nucleoside analogues against sensitive and drug-resistant human immunodeficiency virus type 1 variants.

(-)-Beta-D-1',3'-Dioxolane guanosine (DXG) and 2,6-diaminopurine (DAPD) dioxolanyl nucleoside analogues have been reported to be potent inhibitors of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). We have recently conducted experiments to more fully characterize their in vitro anti-HIV-1 profiles. Antiviral assays performed in cell culture systems determined that DXG had 50% effective concentrations of 0.046 and 0.085 microM when evaluated against HIV-1(IIIB) in cord blood mononuclear cells and MT-2 cells, respectively. These values indicate that DXG is approximately equipotent to 2', 3'-dideoxy-3'-thiacytidine (3TC) but 5- to 10-fold less potent than 3'-azido-2',3'-dideoxythymidine (AZT) in the two cell systems tested. At the same time, DAPD was approximately 5- to 20-fold less active than DXG in the anti-HIV-1 assays. When recombinant or clinical variants of HIV-1 were used to assess the efficacy of the purine nucleoside analogues against drug-resistant HIV-1, it was observed that AZT-resistant virus remained sensitive to DXG and DAPD. Virus harboring a mutation(s) which conferred decreased sensitivity to 3TC, 2',3'-dideoxyinosine, and 2',3'-dideoxycytidine, such as a 65R, 74V, or 184V mutation in the viral reverse transcriptase (RT), exhibited a two- to fivefold-decreased susceptibility to DXG or DAPD. When nonnucleoside RT inhibitor-resistant and protease inhibitor-resistant viruses were tested, no change in virus sensitivity to DXG or DAPD was observed. In vitro drug combination assays indicated that DXG had synergistic antiviral effects when used in combination with AZT, 3TC, or nevirapine. In cellular toxicity analyses, DXG and DAPD had 50% cytotoxic concentrations of greater than 500 microM when tested in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and a variety of human tumor and normal cell lines. The triphosphate form of DXG competed with the natural nucleotide substrates and acted as a chain terminator of the nascent DNA. These data suggest that DXG triphosphate may be the active intracellular metabolite, consistent with the mechanism by which other nucleoside analogues inhibit HIV-1 replication. Our results suggest that the use of DXG and DAPD as therapeutic agents for HIV-1 infection should be explored.

Design and SAR study of a novel class of nucleotide analogues as potent anti-HCMV agents.

We have developed a novel class of 2-phosphonate 1,3-dioxolane nucleotide analogues, from which the guanine derivative displayed weak anti-HCMV activity. Further SAR studies led to the identification of both cis and trans guanine derivatives of tetrahydrofuran analogues as potent anti-HCMV agents, both in vitro and in vivo, compared to ganciclovir and HPMPC.

Anti-human immunodeficiency virus type 1 activity, intracellular metabolism, and pharmacokinetic evaluation of 2'-deoxy-3'-oxa-4'-thiocytidine.

The racemic nucleoside analogue 2'-deoxy-3'-oxa-4'-thiocytidine (dOTC) is in clinical development for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 (HIV-1) infection. dOTC is structurally related to lamivudine (3TC), but the oxygen and sulfur in the furanosyl ring are transposed. Intracellular metabolism studies showed that dOTC is phosphorylated within cells via the deoxycytidine kinase pathway and that approximately 2 to 5% of dOTC is converted into the racemic triphosphate derivatives, which had measurable half-lives (2 to 3 hours) within cells. Both 5'-triphosphate (TP) derivatives of dOTC were more potent than 3TC-TP at inhibiting HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) in vitro. The K(i) values for dOTC-TP obtained against human DNA polymerases alpha, beta, and gamma were 5,000-, 78-, and 571-fold greater, respectively, than those for HIV RT (28 nM), indicating a good selectivity for the viral enzyme. In culture experiments, dOTC is a potent inhibitor of primary isolates of HIV-1, which were obtained from antiretroviral drug-naive patients as well as from nucleoside therapy-experienced (3TC- and/or zidovudine [AZT]-treated) patients. The mean 50% inhibitory concentration of dOTC for drug-naive isolates was 1.76 microM, rising to only 2.53 and 2.5 microM for viruses resistant to 3TC and viruses resistant to 3TC and AZT, respectively. This minimal change in activity is in contrast to the more dramatic changes observed when 3TC or AZT was evaluated against these same viral isolates. In tissue culture studies, the 50% toxicity levels for dOTC, which were determined by using [(3)H]thymidine uptake as a measure of logarithmic-phase cell proliferation, was greater than 100 microM for all cell lines tested. In addition, after 14 days of continuous culture, at concentrations up to 10 microM, no measurable toxic effect on HepG2 cells or mitochondrial DNA replication within these cells was observed. When administered orally to rats, dOTC was well absorbed, with a bioavailability of approximately 77%, with a high proportion (approximately 16.5% of the levels in serum) found in the cerebrospinal fluid.

Anti-human immunodeficiency virus type 1 activity and in vitro toxicity of 2'-deoxy-3'-thiacytidine (BCH-189), a novel heterocyclic nucleoside analog.

We describe a novel nucleoside analog, 2'-deoxy-3'-thiacytidine (BCH-189), in which the 3' carbon of the ribose ring of 2'-deoxycytidine has been replaced by a sulfur atom. In MT-4 T cells, this compound had significant time- and dose-dependent antiviral activity against five different strains of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) (mean 50% inhibitory dose, 0.73 microM); known 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (AZT)-resistant HIV-1 variants did not exhibit cross-resistance to it. BCH-189 also suppressed HIV-1 replication in the U937 monocytoid cell line as well as in primary cultures of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells; in these latter systems, suppression was fuller and longer lasting than that induced by AZT. Moreover, BCH-189 was less toxic than AZT in cell culture. BCH-189 may be a promising drug for the treatment of HIV-1-associated disease.

Synthesis and antiviral activity of some acyclic and C-acyclic pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidine nucleoside analogues.

A series of acyclic and C-acyclic 7-deazapurine nucleosides have been synthesized and tested for antiviral activity. Reaction of the sodium salt of 2-amino-3,4-bis(aminocarbonyl)-5-(methylthio)pyrrole (6) with an appropriate electrophile gave pyrrole nucleosides which served as common intermediates to both the 7-deazaadenosine and the 7-deazaguanosine series. Several of these 5- and 5,6-substituted pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidine nucleosides have shown activity against HIV virus in preliminary in vitro screens.