4.6 Article

Electrostatically constrained α-helical peptide inhibits replication of HIV-1 resistant to enfuvirtide

Journal

Publisher

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.biocel.2008.08.039

Keywords

HIV; Fusion; Peptide; Inhibitor; alpha-Helix

Funding

  1. Ministry of Health and Welfare
  2. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) of Japan
  3. Japan Health Sciences Foundation
  4. Ministry of Health and Labor of Japan
  5. 21 st Century COE
  6. JSPS

Ask authors/readers for more resources

alpha-Helical pepticles, such as T-20 (enfuvirtide) and C34, derived from the gp41 carboxyl-terminal heptad repeat (C-HR) of HIV-1, inhibit membrane fusion of HIV-1 and the target cells. Although T-20 effectively suppresses the replication of multi-drug resistant HIV variants both in vitro and in vivo, prolonged therapy with T-20 induces emergence of T-20 resistant variants. In order to suppress the emergence of such resistant variants, we introduced charged and hydrophilic amino acids, glutamic acid (E) and lysine (K), at the solvent accessible site of C34. In particular, the modified peptide, SC34EK, demonstrates remarkably potent inhibition of membrane fusion by the resistant HIV-1 variants as well as wild-type viruses. The activity was specific to HIV-1 and little influenced by serum components. We found a strong correlation between the anti-HIV-1 activities of these pepticles and the thermostabilities of the 6-helix bundles that are formed with these peptides. We also obtained the crystal structure of SC34EK in complex with a 36 amino acid sequence (N36) comprising the amino-terminal heptad repeat of HIV-1. The EK substitutions in the sequence of SC34EK were directed toward the solvent and generated an electrostatic potential, which may result in enhanced alpha-helicity of the peptide inhibitor. The 6-helix bundle complex of SC34EK with N36 appears to be structurally similar to that of C34 and N36. Our approach to enhancing alpha-helicity of the peptide inhibitor may enable future design of highly effective and specific HIV-1 inhibitors. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.6
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available