Structure-guided design of small-molecule therapeutics against RSV disease

Cox, Robert; Plemper, Richard K.

doi:10.1517/17460441.2016.1174212

Cited by 22 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 117 publications

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“…However, recent mapping of resistance mutations (61) and cocrystallization of structurally different inhibitor classes with the RSV fusion (F) protein (62) spotlighted a defined microdomain located at the base of the prefusion RSV F protein head domain as the common docking site. Analogous to our prediction for the different HA inhibitor classes, all RSV compounds tested engage the same F microdomain, but different avenues exist to productively populate the target (60,62,63). Viral resistance against current therapeutics constitutes a major driving force for the development of novel influenza virus inhibitors; clinical use of the adamantanes is no longer advised, and preexisting resistance increasingly compromises the neuraminidase inhibitors (11,22).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 59%

Identification and Characterization of Influenza Virus Entry Inhibitors through Dual Myxovirus High-Throughput Screening

Weisshaar

Cox

Morehouse

et al. 2016

J Virol

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Influenza A virus (IAV) infections cause major morbidity and mortality, generating an urgent need for novel antiviral therapeutics. We recently established a dual myxovirus high-throughput screening protocol that combines a fully replication-competent IAV-WSN strain and a respiratory syncytial virus reporter strain for the simultaneous identification of IAV-specific, paramyxovirus-specific, and broad-spectrum inhibitors. In the present study, this protocol was applied to a screening campaign to assess a diverse chemical library with over 142,000 entries. Focusing on IAV-specific hits, we obtained a hit rate of 0.03% after cytotoxicity testing and counterscreening. Three chemically distinct hit classes with nanomolar potency and favorable cytotoxicity profiles were selected. Time-of-addition, minigenome, and viral entry studies demonstrated that these classes block hemagglutinin (HA)-mediated membrane fusion. Antiviral activity extends to an isolate from the 2009 pandemic and, in one case, another group 1 subtype. Target identification through biolayer interferometry confirmed binding of all hit compounds to HA. Resistance profiling revealed two distinct escape mechanisms: primary resistance, associated with reduced compound binding, and secondary resistance, associated with unaltered binding. Secondary resistance was mediated, unusually, through two different pairs of cooperative mutations, each combining a mutation eliminating the membrane-proximal stalk N-glycan with a membrane-distal change in HA1 or HA2. Chemical synthesis of an analog library combined with in silico docking extracted a docking pose for the hit classes. Chemical interrogation spotlights IAV HA as a major druggable target for small-molecule inhibition. Our study identifies novel chemical scaffolds with high developmental potential, outlines diverse routes of IAV escape from entry inhibition, and establishes a path toward structure-aided lead development. IMPORTANCEThis study is one of the first to apply a fully replication-competent third-generation IAV reporter strain to a large-scale highthroughput screen (HTS) drug discovery campaign, allowing multicycle infection and screening in physiologically relevant human respiratory cells. A large number of potential druggable targets was thus chemically interrogated, but mechanistic characterization, positive target identification, and resistance profiling demonstrated that three chemically promising and structurally distinct hit classes selected for further analysis all block HA-mediated membrane fusion. Viral escape from inhibition could be achieved through primary and secondary resistance mechanisms. In silico docking predicted compound binding to a microdomain located at the membrane-distal site of the prefusion HA stalk that was also previously suggested as a target site for chemically unrelated HA inhibitors. This study identifies an unexpected chemodominance of the HA stalk microdomain for smallmolecule inhibitors in IAV inhibitor screening campaigns and highlights a novel mechanism ...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 59%

Identification and Characterization of Influenza Virus Entry Inhibitors through Dual Myxovirus High-Throughput Screening

Weisshaar

Cox

Morehouse

et al. 2016

J Virol

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“…Despite a high structural variety among the different small-molecule RSV entry inhibitors that were subjected to advanced development, point mutations in either one of two microdomains of the F protein, residues 392–401 and 486–489, respectively, induce robust viral escape from inhibition by all of these compounds 12, 15 . This unusual RSV pan-resistance phenotype to entry inhibition does not necessarily coincide with viral attenuation, since we noted that a pan-resistant RSV recombinant remained as pathogenic in a mouse model of RSV disease as the corresponding parent strain 15 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of Non-Nucleoside Inhibitors of the Respiratory Syncytial Virus Polymerase Complex

et al. 2017

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Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) represents a threat to infants, the elderly, and the immunocompromised. RSV entry blockers are in clinical trials, but escape mutations challenge their potential. In search of RSV inhibitors, we have integrated a signature resistance mutation into are combinant RSV virus and applied the strain to high-throughput screening. Counter screening of candidates returned 14 confirmed hits with activity in the nano- to low-micromolar range. All blocked RSV polymerase activity in minigenome assays. Compound 1a (GRP-74915) was selected for development based on activity (EC50=0.21 µM, selectivity index (SI) 40), and scaffold. Resynthesis confirmed potency of the compound, which suppressed viral RNA synthesis in infected cells. However, metabolic testing revealed a short half-life in the presence of mouse hepatocyte fractions. Metabolite tracking and chemical elaboration combined with 3D-quantitative structure-activity relationship modeling yielded analogs (i.e. 8n: EC50=0.06 µM, SI 500) that establish a platform for the development of a therapeutic candidate.

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“…No efficient treatment is presently available for hRSV (4), and vaccination is challenging due to complex immunogenicity (5). The search for hRSV antiviral drugs directed toward specific viral functions is therefore still ongoing (6).…”

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confidence: 99%

New Insights into Structural Disorder in Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus Phosphoprotein and Implications for Binding of Protein Partners

Pereira¹,

Cardone²,

Lassoued³

et al. 2017

Journal of Biological Chemistry

116

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Edited by Charles E. SamuelPhosphoprotein is the main cofactor of the viral RNA polymerase of Mononegavirales. It is involved in multiple interactions that are essential for the polymerase function. Most prominently it positions the polymerase complex onto the nucleocapsid, but also acts as a chaperone for the nucleoprotein. Mononegavirales phosphoproteins lack sequence conservation, but contain all large disordered regions. We show here that Nand C-terminal intrinsically disordered regions account for 80% of the phosphoprotein of the respiratory syncytial virus. But these regions display marked dynamic heterogeneity. Whereas almost stable helices are formed C terminally to the oligomerization domain, extremely transient helices are present in the N-terminal region. They all mediate internal long-range contacts in this non-globular protein. Transient secondary elements together with fully disordered regions also provide protein binding sites recognized by the respiratory syncytial virus nucleoprotein and compatible with weak interactions required for the processivity of the polymerase. Human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV),3 a member of the family Pneumoviridae (1) and order Mononegavirales (MNV), is the main viral cause of lower respiratory tract illness worldwide, and the main agent responsible for bronchiolitis and pneumonia in infants (2). All children have been infected by the age of two, requiring hospitalization in ϳ5% cases (3). Elderly and immunocompromised adults are also at increased risk. No efficient treatment is presently available for hRSV (4), and vaccination is challenging due to complex immunogenicity (5). The search for hRSV antiviral drugs directed toward specific viral functions is therefore still ongoing (6).The hRSV RNA-dependent RNA complex (RdRp) constitutes a virus-specific target with specific protein-protein interactions that have not all been investigated in detail (7). It uses the nonsegmented single-stranded negative sense RNA genome of hRSV as a template. In infected cells, the viral RdRp is found in specific inclusion bodies (8), which have been shown to be transcription and replication centers for other Mononegavirales, e.g. rabies (9) and vesicular stomatitis viruses (10). The apo RdRp complex is composed a minima of the large catalytic subunit (L) and its essential cofactor, the phosphoprotein (P) (11, 12). The P protein plays a central role in the RdRp by interacting with all main RdRp components. During transcription and replication it tethers the L protein to the nucleocapsid (NC), consisting of the genomic RNA packaged by the nucleoprotein (N), by direct interaction with N (13-16). hRSV P also binds to the transcription antitermination factor M2-1 (17-19). Phosphorylation of P has been proposed to regulate these interactions, although it is not essential for replication (20 -22). P also acts as a chaperone for neo-synthesized N by forming an N 0 ⅐P complex that preserves N in a monomeric and RNA-free state (23). We have shown previously that formation of hRSV NC⅐P and ...

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Structure-guided design of small-molecule therapeutics against RSV disease

Cited by 22 publications

References 117 publications

Identification and Characterization of Influenza Virus Entry Inhibitors through Dual Myxovirus High-Throughput Screening

Identification and Characterization of Influenza Virus Entry Inhibitors through Dual Myxovirus High-Throughput Screening

Identification of Non-Nucleoside Inhibitors of the Respiratory Syncytial Virus Polymerase Complex

New Insights into Structural Disorder in Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus Phosphoprotein and Implications for Binding of Protein Partners

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