Contact with HIV-1 envelope protein elicits release of ATP through pannexin-1 channels on target cells; by activating purinergic receptors and Pyk2 kinase in target cells, this extracellular ATP boosts HIV-1 infectivity.

Integration of retroviral DNA is an obligatory step of retrovirus replication because proviral DNA is the template for productive infection. Integrase, a retroviral enzyme, catalyses integration. The process of integration can be divided into two sequential reactions. The first one, named 3'-processing, corresponds to a specific endonucleolytic reaction which prepares the viral DNA extremities to be competent for the subsequent covalent insertion, named strand transfer, into the host cell genome by a trans-esterification reaction. Recently, a novel specific activity of the full length integrase was reported, in vitro, by our group for two retroviral integrases (HIV-1 and PFV-1). This activity of internal cleavage occurs at a specific palindromic sequence mimicking the LTR-LTR junction described into the 2-LTR circles which are peculiar viral DNA forms found during viral infection. Moreover, recent studies demonstrated the existence of a weak palindromic consensus found at the integration sites. Taken together, these data underline the propensity of retroviral integrases for binding symmetrical sequences and give perspectives for targeting specific sequences used for gene therapy.

Our prior studies showed that polyhydroxylated styrylquinolines are potent HIV-1 integrase (IN) inhibitors that block the replication of HIV-1 in cell culture at nontoxic concentrations. To explore the mechanism of action of these inhibitors, various novel styrylquinoline derivatives were synthesized and tested against HIV-1 IN and in cell-based assays. Regarding the in vitro experiments, the structural requirements for biological activity are a carboxyl group at C-7, a hydroxyl group at C-8 in the quinoline subunit, and an ancillary phenyl ring. However the in vitro inhibitory profile tolerates deep alterations of this ring, e.g. by the introduction of various substituents or its replacement by heteroatomic nuclei. Regarding the ex vivo assays, the structural requirements for activity are more stringent than for in vitro inhibition. Thus, in addition to an o-hydroxy acid group in the quinoline, the presence of one ortho pair of substituents at C-3' and C-4', particularly two hydroxyl groups, in the ancillary phenyl ring is imperatively required for inhibitory potency. Starting from literature data and the SARs developed in this work, a putative binding mode of styrylquinoline inhibitors to HIV-1 IN was derived.