A Picomolar Inhibitor of Resistant Strains of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Protease Identified by a Combinatorial Approach

The bicyclams are a new class of anti-human immunodeficiency virus (anti-HIV) compounds targeted at viral entry. From marker rescue experiments, it appears that the envelope gp120 glycoprotein plays an important role in the anti-HIV activity of the bicyclams. Bicyclam-resistant strains contain a number of amino acid changes scattered over the V2 to V5 region of gp120. Experiments aimed at estimating the relative importance of particular amino acid changes with regard to the overall resistance pattern are described. The sequences of some partially bicyclam-resistant virus strains, obtained during the resistance development process, were analyzed, and the corresponding 50% effective concentrations were determined. Selected mutations observed in bicyclam-resistant strains were introduced in the wild-type background by site-directed mutagenesis. In addition, some amino acids were back-mutated to their wild-type counterparts in an otherwise JM3100-resistant strain. The sensitivities of these mutant viruses to bicyclams were determined. Construction of chimeric viruses, carrying the V3 loop of JM3100-resistant virus in a wild-type HIV type 1 HXB2 background, enabled us to investigate the importance of the mutations in the V3 loop of JM3100-resistant virus. From the results described in the report, it can be concluded that single amino acid substitutions do not influence the observed resistance to JM3100. Also, the mutations in the V3 loop are not sufficient to engender even a partially resistant phenotype. We postulate that the overall conformation of gp120 determines the degree of sensitivity or resistance of HIV strains to bicyclams.

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Multiple Mutations in the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Protease Gene Are Responsible for Decreased Susceptibility to Protease Inhibitors

Antiviral Chemistry and Chemotherapy ◽

10.1177/095632029500600202 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 80-88 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

R. W. King ◽

S. Garber ◽

D. L. Winslow ◽

C. Reid ◽

L. T. Bacheler ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Human Immunodeficiency Virus ◽

Protease Inhibitors ◽

Clinical Isolate ◽

Protease Gene ◽

Human Immunodeficiency Virus Protease ◽

Fold Reduction ◽

Antiretroviral Drug ◽

Immunodeficiency Virus ◽

Hiv 1

The protease (PR) of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is essential for replication of the virus, and accordingly has become an attractive target for the development of an antiretroviral drug. We have previously reported that passage of HIV-1 in the presence of increasing concentrations of the C-2 symmetrical, linear diol P9941 resulted in the isolation of virus with a valine-to-alanine change at position 82 (V82A) of the PR, and reduced sensitivity to certain PR inhibitors. In this study, we passaged four different variants of HIV-1 in increasing concentrations of XM323, and isolated variants with reduced sensitivity to inhibitors of PR. Twenty-three passages of HIV-1 (RF) in the presence of XM323 resulted in a variant that exhibited an approximately 100-fold reduction in susceptibility to XM323 and that contained V82F and I84V changes. When two other viruses, HIV-1 (RF41D2) and HIV-1(RF41E4), previously derived from HIV-1 (RF) by passage in the presence of P9941, were passaged in the presence of XM323, variants with V82A/L97V and M46L/V82A/L97V changes, respectively, were obtained. The M46L/V82A/L97V variant showed a 6-fold reduction in sensitivity to XM323, whereas the susceptibility of the V82A/L97V mutant remained unchanged. Seventeen passages of a clinical isolate of HIV-1, HIV-1 (Pat.E), in the presence of XM323 produced a V82F/L97V mutant with an approximately 9-fold reduction in sensitivity to XM323.

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