Amprenavir complexes with HIV-1 protease and its drug-resistant mutants altering hydrophobic clusters

The structural and kinetic effects of amprenavir (APV), a clinical HIV protease (PR) inhibitor, were analyzed with wild-type enzyme and mutants with single substitutions of V32I, I50V, I54V, I54M, I84V and L90M that are common in drug resistance. Crystal structures of the APV complexes at resolutions of 1.02-1.85 angstrom reveal the structural changes due to the mutations. Substitution of the larger side chains in PRV32I, PRI54M and PRL90M resulted in the formation of new hydrophobic contacts with flap residues, residues 79 and 80, and Asp25, respectively. Mutation to smaller side chains eliminated hydrophobic interactions in the PRI50V and PRI54V structures. The PRI84V-APV complex had lost hydrophobic contacts with APV, the PRV32I-APV complex showed increased hydrophobic contacts within the hydrophobic cluster and the PRI50V complex had weaker polar and hydrophobic interactions with APV. The observed structural changes in PRI84V-APV, PRV32I-APV and PRI50V-APV were related to their reduced inhibition by APV of six-, 10- and 30-fold, respectively, relative to wildtype PR. The APV complexes were compared with the corresponding saquinavir complexes. The PR dimers had distinct rearrangements of the flaps and 80's loops that adapt to the different P1' groups of the inhibitors, while maintaining contacts within the hydrophobic cluster. These small changes in the loops and weak internal interactions produce the different patterns of resistant mutations for the two drugs.