Triphosphate Prodrugs of the Anti-HIV-Active Compound 3'-Deoxy-3'-fluorothymidine (FLT)

J Med Chem. 2022 Sep 22;65(18):12163-12175. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.2c00665. Epub 2022 Sep 13.

Abstract

3'-Fluoro-3'-deoxythymidine (FLT) was identified as one of the most potent inhibitors of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) replication. However, FLT also showed severe toxicity so that it was abundant as a potential chemotherapeutic agent. Here, we describe various triphosphate prodrugs of FLT aiming for (a) a bypass of all phosphorylation steps needed to convert the nucleoside analogue into its triphosphate (TP) form, (b) an intracellular delivery of hydrolytically and enzymatically stable triphosphate derivatives, and (c) increasing the selectivity for HIV-RT vs three cellular DNA polymerases including the mitochondrial DNA polymerase γ. γ-Alkylated FLTTP compounds fulfill all of these requirements because these compounds proved highly resistant to dephosphorylation and showed strong selectivity for HIV-RT. Moreover, a prodrug form of these compounds proved to be nontoxic in CEM cells.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Anti-HIV Agents* / pharmacology
  • Anti-HIV Agents* / therapeutic use
  • DNA Polymerase gamma
  • DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase
  • Dideoxynucleosides
  • HIV Reverse Transcriptase
  • HIV-1*
  • Humans
  • Nucleosides / pharmacology
  • Polyphosphates
  • Prodrugs* / pharmacology
  • Prodrugs* / therapeutic use
  • Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / therapeutic use

Substances

  • Anti-HIV Agents
  • Dideoxynucleosides
  • Nucleosides
  • Polyphosphates
  • Prodrugs
  • Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors
  • HIV Reverse Transcriptase
  • DNA Polymerase gamma
  • DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase
  • triphosphoric acid
  • alovudine