A high-throughput assay for HIV-1 integrase 3'-processing activity using time-resolved fluorescence

HIV-1 integrase (HIV-1 IN), a well-validated antiviral drug target, catalyzes multistep reactions to incorporate viral DNA into the genome of the host cell; these include both a 3'-processing (3'P) reaction and a strand transfer reaction. These enzymatic activities can be measured in vitro with short DNA oligonucleotides that mimic a single viral LTR DNA end and purified IN. A highly sensitive and reproducible time-resolved fluorescence (TRF)-based assay for HIV-1 IN 3'P activity is now reported. This assay was optimized with respect to time and concentrations of metal ions, substrate and enzyme. The assay has now been used successfully to measure HIV-1 IN 3'P activity and has been shown to detect the anti-IN activity of several known 3'P inhibition compounds accurately. This assay, which is amenable to high-throughput screening, will be useful for identification of additional HIV-1 IN 3'P inhibitors.     

HIV-1整合酶酶联免疫吸附试验及其抑制剂的研究

目的　建立一种检测人类免疫缺陷病毒 1型 (HIV - 1 )整合酶的酶联免疫吸附试验(ELISA)方法 ,用于筛选和研究HIV - 1整合酶抑制剂。方法　将质粒F1 85K C2 80SIN1 2 88转化到大肠埃希菌中 ,经IPTG诱导表达 ,柱亲和层析纯化 ,获得HIV 1整合酶融合蛋白。建立酶联免疫吸附试验方法测定其生物学活性 ,与3 2 P同位素标记方法比较 ,并用ELISA方法筛选HIV 1整合酶的抑制剂。结果　SDS PAGE电泳分析显示 ,相对分子质量 30 0 0 0上方有HIV 1整合酶融合蛋白条带出现。ELISA及3 2 P同位素标记法证实 ,此融合蛋白对于特异底物具有 3′切割和链转移活性。ELISA反应的平均P N值为 2 836± 0 1 61 ,批内及批间变异系数 (CV)分别为 4 63 %和 5 89%。检测到中药丹参提取物CEH等有抑制整合酶的活性 ,CEH的大孔树脂洗脱物CEHL活性提高。结论　ELISA法检测HIV 1整合酶活性技术简单 ,快速 ,重复性好 ,无同位素污染 ,可用于HIV 1整合酶为靶点的抑制剂的筛选及抗 HIV药物作用机理的研究。     

Structural biology of retroviral DNA integration

Three-dimensional macromolecular structures shed critical light on biological mechanism and facilitate development of small molecule inhibitors. Clinical success of raltegravir, a potent inhibitor of HIV-1 integrase, demonstrated the utility of this viral DNA recombinase as an antiviral target. A variety of partial integrase structures reported in the past 16 years have been instrumental and very informative to the field. Nonetheless, because integrase protein fragments are unable to functionally engage the viral DNA substrate critical for strand transfer inhibitor binding, the early structures did little to materially impact drug development efforts. However, recent results based on prototype foamy virus integrase have fully reversed this trend, as a number of X-ray crystal structures of active integrase-DNA complexes revealed key mechanistic details and moreover established the foundation of HIV-1 integrase strand transfer inhibitor action. In this review we discuss the landmarks in the progress of integrase structural biology during the past 17 years.     

Control of HIV through the inhibition of HIV-1 integrase: a medicinal chemistry perspective

This article reviews the current status of classes of HIV-1 integrase enzyme inhibitors. These classes include peptide-based inhibitors, natural products, polyhydroxylated aromatics, diketo acids, naphthyridines, and sulfonated compounds including sulfonic acids. Discussions of structure activity relationships are presented and include the current overview of the structure-based model, suitable for the further design and development. To date, the advances in the medicinal chemistry of HIV-1 integrase inhibitors have relied mostly on ligand-based designs leading to most displaying similar binding interactions within the active site or at the dimer interface. This paves the way for single enzyme mutations rendering entire compound classes inactive and thus, the requirement for second and third generation inhibitors with novel modes of binding is apparent. To facilitate future structure-based drug design efforts, a model of the biologically relevant structure of the HIV-1 integrase enzyme, a dimer of dimers has also been discussed.     

Performance of the Abbott RealTime HIV-1 viral load assay is not impacted by integrase inhibitor resistance-associated mutations

The Abbott RealTime HIV-1 viral load assay uses primers and probes targeted to integrase, which is also the target of integrase inhibitors such as raltegravir. Viral loads of 42 raltegravir-susceptible and 40 raltegravir-resistant specimens were determined using RealTime HIV-1 and Roche Monitor (v1.5). The differences in viral load measurements between assays were comparable in the two groups, demonstrating that the RealTime HIV-1 assay can tolerate raltegravir-selected mutations.     

五种药用石斛内生真菌抑制HIV-1整合酶活性研究

目的 评价5种药用石斛内生真菌发酵产物抑制HIV-1整合酶的活性.方法 将分离自石斛的202株内生真菌提取物共404个采用高通量ELISA法评价其抑制HIV-l整合酶活性;对抑制活性大于100％的样品进行量效关系考察并进行体外抑制肿瘤细胞活性筛选.结果 筛选得到19个对HIV-l整合酶抑制活性大于80％的样品,其中样品5119F、5297F、5097F、5140J和5211F的抑制率分别达到117.96％、113.53％、108.62％、103.74％和109.02％,其对应的IC50值分别为0.02024、0.003125、0.00862、0.01007 和 0.01192 mg/ml.结论石斛属药用植物内生真菌是一个潜在的、丰富的用于筛选HIV-1整合酶抑制剂的资源库,值得进一步研究和开发.     

HIV-1 integration: an interplay between HIV-1 integrase, cellular and viral proteins

To achieve a productive infection, the reverse transcribed cDNA of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) has to be inserted in the host cell genome. The main protein required to accomplish this reaction is the virally encoded integrase. In vitro, the recombinant integrase is capable of catalyzing the two subsequent reactions of the integration process, namely the 3' processing followed by the strand transfer, without other viral and/or cellular proteins. However, a number of studies indicate that the in vivo integration process also involves cellular proteins, assisting the virus to integrate in the cellular genome. These cellular proteins can play a role during different steps of the integration process, including nuclear import, integrase catalysis, integration site selection and DNA gap repair. In this review we summarize the candidate cellular proteins involved in the HIV-1 integration process identified so far and discuss their potential roles during HIV-1 replication.     

Analysis of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Integration by Using A Specific, Sensitive and Quantitative Assay Based on Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction

A novel real-time nested-PCR assay was developed to quantify integrated human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) DNA with high specificity and sensitivity. This assay reproducibly allowed the detection of three copies of integrated HIV DNA in a background of 100,000 cell equivalents of human chromosomal DNA. The non-specific amplification of unintegrated HIV-1 DNA was significantly inhibited in this assay and the specificity of this assay was much higher than the previously reported method. This assay showed that kinetics in viral DNA sysnthesis was cell-type dependent and that the kinetics of HIV-1 DNA integration was very rapid in Jurkat T cell line. This method may provide new insights into the integration processes and be useful in evaluating future integrase inhibitors.     

Discovery of HIV-1 integrase inhibitors through a novel combination of ligand and structure-based drug design

Over the past 10 years, classical computer-aided molecular design methods have not been frequently applied for the discovery of novel HIV-1 integrase (IN) inhibitors, due to the intrinsic challenges that this enzyme presents. Therefore, a novel approach that combines the chemical information of known integrase inhibitors with the enzyme's detailed 3D structure in a stepwise fashion is proposed: (I) use of a pharmacophore model (PM), which takes into account in a weighted fashion the chemical features of known ligands, in analogous manner to the to search the Maybridge and the NCI 3D databases; (II) drug-likeness optimization; (III) virtual high-throughput screening of the hits matching the PM query against 1QS4 wild-type IN structure using different Docking/Scoring combinations; (IV) visual inspection and selection of the hits in function of: binding free energies; binding mode type within the active site; retrieval among the best 20% hits in more than 6 Docking/Scoring protocols at the same time. This approach aims at a rational selection of new potential HIV-1 integrase inhibitors.     

Evaluation of PCR-based methods for the quantitation of integrated HIV-1 DNA

Integration of HIV-1 DNA is essential both for productive viral replication and for viral persistence in patients. Methods to measure specifically proviral HIV DNA are required for investigating the mechanisms of HIV integration, for screening novel integrase inhibitors in cell culture and for monitoring levels of persistent integrated viral DNA in patients. In this report, the linker primer polymerase chain reaction (LP-PCR) and Alu-PCR methods for the quantitation of integrated HIV-1 DNA have been modified and evaluated. Each of the two modified assays allowed the quantitative detection of 4 copies of integrated HIV DNA in presence of 2 x 10(5) cell-equivalents of human chromosomal DNA. The results show that proper DNA isolation procedures and the inclusion of appropriate controls in these assays are important for the accurate quantitation of integrated HIV DNA. With further improvements, it should be possible to use these methods as diagnostic tools to monitor closely the efficacy of antiretroviral therapy.     

Four-tiered pi interaction at the dimeric interface of HIV-1 integrase critical for DNA integration and viral infectivity

HIV-1 integrase (IN) is an essential enzyme for viral infection. Here, we report an extensive pi electron orbital interaction between four amino acids, W132, M178, F181 and F185, located at the dimeric interface of IN that is critical for the strand transfer activity alone. Catalysis of nine different mutant IN proteins at these positions were evaluated. Whereas the 3'-processing activity is predominantly strong, the strand transfer activity of each enzyme was completely dependent on an intact pi electron orbital interaction at the dimeric interface. Four representative IN mutants were constructed in the context of the infectious NL4.3 HIV-1 viral clone. Whereas viruses with an intact pi electron orbital interaction at the IN dimeric interface replicated comparable to wild type, viruses containing an abolished pi interaction were non-infectious. Q-PCR analysis of viral DNA forms during viral replication revealed pleiotropic effects of most mutations. We hypothesize that the pi interaction is a critical contact point for the assembly of functional IN multimeric complexes, and that IN multimerization is required for a functional pre-integration complex. The rational design of small molecule inhibitors targeting the disruption of this pi-pi interaction should lead to powerful anti-retroviral drugs.     

A screening assay for antiviral compounds targeted to the HIV-1 gp41 core structure using a conformation-specific monoclonal antibody.

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) gp41 plays an important role in membrane fusion between viruses and target cells. The gp41 ectodomain contains two heptad repeat regions adjacent to the N and C-termini. Peptides derived from these two regions, designated N and C-peptides, are potent inhibitors of HIV-1 infection and can interact with each other to form a six-stranded coiled-coil, representing the fusogenic core structure of gp41. A monoclonal antibody was generated, designated NC-1, which specifically binds to the complex formed by the N and C-peptides, but not to the individual peptides. An enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed using NC-1 for detecting complex formed by N and C-peptides and for screening of organic compounds for antiviral agents that may interfere with complex formation and inhibit HIV-1 infection. Single point mutations in the C-peptides abolish the complex formation also eliminate their anti-HIV-1 activity. A phenylazo-naphthalene sulfonic acid derivative, designated ADS-J1, was found to inhibit both formation of NC-1 detectable complex and HIV-1-mediated membrane fusion, suggesting that the described ELISA is applicable to rapid screening of libraries of organic compounds for HIV-1 inhibitors targeted to the HIV-1 gp41 core structure.     

Genotypic antiretroviral resistance testing for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 integrase inhibitors by use of the TruGene sequencing system

A sequencing assay for detection of mutations conferring resistance to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) integrase inhibitors raltegravir and elvitegravir was developed using the automated TruGene sequencing system. The assay returned clear sequencing results for samples with ≥500 RNA copies/ml for mutation detection and HIV-1 subtyping across a spectrum of HIV-1 subtypes.