A Chemical Strategy for Intracellular Arming of an Endogenous Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Nucleotide

J Med Chem. 2021 Oct 28;64(20):15429-15439. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c01481. Epub 2021 Oct 18.

Abstract

The naturally occurring nucleotide 3'-deoxy-3',4'-didehydro-cytidine-5'-triphosphate (ddhCTP) was recently found to exert potent and broad-spectrum antiviral activity. However, nucleoside 5'-triphosphates in general are not cell-permeable, which precludes the direct use of ddhCTP as a therapeutic. To harness the therapeutic potential of this endogenous antiviral nucleotide, we synthesized phosphoramidate prodrug HLB-0532247 (1) and found it to result in dramatically elevated levels of ddhCTP in cells. We compared 1 and 3'-deoxy-3',4'-didehydro-cytidine (ddhC) and found that 1 more effectively reduces titers of Zika and West Nile viruses in cell culture with minimal nonspecific toxicity to host cells. We conclude that 1 is a promising antiviral agent based on a novel strategy of facilitating elevated levels of the endogenous ddhCTP antiviral nucleotide.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antiviral Agents / chemistry
  • Antiviral Agents / pharmacology*
  • Cell Line
  • Chlorocebus aethiops
  • Cytidine Triphosphate / chemistry
  • Cytidine Triphosphate / pharmacology*
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Humans
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Molecular Structure
  • Structure-Activity Relationship
  • West Nile virus / drug effects*
  • Zika Virus / drug effects*

Substances

  • 3'-deoxy-3',4'-didehydro-CTP
  • Antiviral Agents
  • Cytidine Triphosphate