Retroviral proteinases. A second front against AIDS

A Personal History of Using Crystals and Crystallography to Understand Biology and Advanced Drug Discovery

Over the past 60 years, the use of crystals to define structures of complexes using X-ray analysis has contributed to the discovery of new medicines in a very significant way. This has been in understanding not only small-molecule inhibitors of proteins, such as enzymes, but also protein or peptide hormones or growth factors that bind to cell surface receptors. Experimental structures from crystallography have also been exploited in software to allow prediction of structures of important targets based on knowledge of homologues. Crystals and crystallography continue to contribute to drug design and provide a successful example of academia–industry collaboration.

Structure-based drug design: aiming for a perfect fit

Knowledge of the three-dimensional structure of therapeutically relevant targets has informed drug discovery since the first protein structures were determined using X-ray crystallography in the 1950s and 1960s. In this editorial we provide a brief overview of the powerful impact of structure-based drug design (SBDD), which has its roots in computational and structural biology, with major contributions from both academia and industry. We describe advances in the application of SBDD for integral membrane protein targets that have traditionally proved very challenging. We emphasize the major progress made in fragment-based approaches for which success has been exemplified by over 30 clinical drug candidates and importantly three FDA-approved drugs in oncology. We summarize the articles in this issue that provide an excellent snapshot of the current state of the field of SBDD and fragment-based drug design and which offer key insights into exciting new developments, such as the X-ray free-electron laser technology, cryo-electron microscopy, open science approaches and targeted protein degradation. We stress the value of SBDD in the design of high-quality chemical tools that are used to interrogate biology and disease pathology, and to inform target validation. We emphasize the need to maintain the scientific rigour that has been traditionally associated with structural biology and extend this to other methods used in drug discovery. This is particularly important because the quality and robustness of any form of contributory data determines its usefulness in accelerating drug design, and therefore ultimately in providing patient benefit.

Structural Biology and the Design of New Therapeutics: From HIV and Cancer to Mycobacterial Infections: A Paper Dedicated to John Kendrew

Interest in applications of protein crystallography to medicine was evident, as the first high-resolution structures emerged in the 50s and 60s. In Cambridge, Max Perutz and John Kendrew sought to understand mutations in sickle cell and other genetic diseases related to hemoglobin, while in Oxford, the group of Dorothy Hodgkin became interested in long-lasting zinc-insulin crystals for treatment of diabetes and later considered insulin redesign, as synthetic insulins became possible. The use of protein crystallography in structure-guided drug discovery emerged as enzyme structures allowed the identification of potential inhibitor-binding sites and optimization of interactions of hits using the structure of the target protein. Early examples of this approach were the use of the structure of renin to design antihypertensives and the structure of HIV protease in design of AIDS antivirals. More recently, use of structure-guided design with fragment-based drug discovery, which reduces the size of screening libraries by decreasing complexity, has improved ligand efficiency in drug design and has been used to progress three oncology drugs through clinical trials to FDA approval. We exemplify current developments in structure-guided target identification and fragment-based lead discovery with efforts to develop new antimicrobials for mycobacterial infections.

Elucidation of the structure of retroviral proteases: a reminiscence

Determinations of only a very few protein structures had consequences comparable to the impact exerted by the structure of the protease encoded by HIV-1, published just over 25 years ago. The structure of this relatively small protein and its cousins from other retroviruses provided a clear target for a spectacularly successful structure-assisted drug design effort that offered new hope for controlling the then-escalating AIDS epidemic. This reminiscence is limited primarily to work conducted at the National Cancer Institute, and is not meant to be a comprehensive history of the field, but is rather an attempt to provide a very personal account of how the structures of this most thoroughly studied crystallographic target were determined.

Target repurposing for neglected diseases

Infectious diseases are an enormous burden to global health and ,since drug discovery is costly, those infectious diseases that affect the developing world are often not pursued by commercial drug-discovery efforts. Therefore, pragmatic means by which new therapeutics can be discovered are needed. One such approach is target repurposing, where pathogen targets are matched with homologous human targets that have been pursued for drug discovery for other indications. In many cases, the medicinal chemistry, structural biology and biochemistry knowledge around these human targets can be directly repurposed to launch and accelerate new drug-discovery efforts against the pathogen targets. This article describes the overarching strategy of target repurposing as a tool for initiating and prosecuting neglected disease drug-discovery programs, highlighting this approach with three case studies.

Analysis of correlations between energy and residue fluctuations in native proteins and determination of specific sites for binding

The Gaussian network model is used to derive the correlations between energy and residue fluctuations in native proteins. Residues are identified that respond strongly to energy fluctuations and that display correlations with the remaining residues of the protein at the highest modes. We postulate that these residues are located at specific sites for drug binding. We test the validity of this postulate on a data set of 33 structurally distinct proteins in the unbound state. Detailed results are presented for drug binding to the HIV protease.

A density functional study of the hydrogen-bond network within the HIV-1 protease catalytic site cleft

The relative energy between two different protonation sites of the Asp25' catalytic site residue is computed and analyzed for various HIV-1 Protease/inhibitor complexes and compared to the wild-type structure. By comparing calculations of negatively charged fragments of gradually increasing size up to 105 atoms we show that correct modeling of the HIV-1 Protease active site requires much larger models than the commonly used acetic acid/acetate moieties. The energy difference between the two proposed protonation sites decreases as the size of the system increases and tends to converge only when the entire catalytic triad of both monomers is taken into account. The importance of the Gly27 backbone amine groups in the stabilization of the negative charge within the catalytic site cleft is revealed. Comparison of the wild-type structure with the structures from various Pr/drug complexes indicates that the HIV-1 protease has a particular catalytic site flexibility.

Correlation between normal modes in the 20-200 cm-1 frequency range and localized torsion motions related to certain collective motions in proteins

In certain biologically relevant collective motions, such as protein domain motions and sub-domain motions, large amplitude movements are localized in one or a few flexible regions consisting of a small number of residues. This paper explores the possible use of normal mode analysis in probing localized vibrational torsion motions in these flexible regions that may be related to certain collective motions. The normal modes of 10 structures of five proteins in different conformation (TRP repressor, calmodulin, calbindin D(9k), HIV-1 protease and troponin C), known to have shear or hinge domain or sub-domain motion, respectively, are analyzed. Our study identifies, for each structure, unique normal modes in the 20-200 cm-1 frequency range, whose corresponding motions are primarily concentrated in the region where large amplitude torsion movements of a known domain or sub-domain motion occur. This suggests possible correlation between normal modes at 20-200 cm-1 frequency range and initial fluctuational motions leading to localized collective motions in proteins, and thus the potential application of normal mode analysis in facilitating the study of biologically important localized motions in biomolecules.

Anti-fungal therapy at the HAART of viral therapy

HIV-positive patients receiving combination therapy (highly active anti-retroviral treatment, HAART) suffer significantly fewer oral infections with the opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans than non-HAART-treated patients. One component of HAART is an inhibitor of the HIV proteinase, the enzyme required for correct processing of retroviral precursor proteins. It would appear that HIV proteinase inhibitors also have a direct effect on one of the key virulence factors of C. albicans, the secreted aspartic proteinases (Saps). This suggests that the reduction in C. albicans infections in HIV-positive patients might not be solely the result of improved immunological status but could also be caused by the HAART treatment directly inhibiting Candida proteinases.

1.9 A x-ray study shows closed flap conformation in crystals of tethered HIV-1 PR

Three-dimensional structure of an asymmetrically mutated (C95M) tethered human immunodeficiency virus type 1 protease enzyme (HIV-1 PR) has been determined in an unliganded form using X-ray diffraction data to 1.9 A resolution. The structure, refined using X-PLOR to an R factor of 19.5%, is unexpectedly similar to the ligand-bound native enzyme, rather than to the ligand-free native enzyme. In particular, the two flaps in the tethered dimer are in a closed configuration. The environments around M95 and C1095 are identical, showing no structural effect of this asymmetric mutation at position 95. Oxidation of Cys1095 has been observed for the first time. There is one well-defined water molecule that hydrogen bonds to both carboxyl groups of the essential aspartic acids in the active site. Proteins 2001;43:57-64.

Interactions of a novel inhibitor from an extremophilic Bacillus sp. with HIV-1 protease: implications for the mechanism of inactivation

The active site cleft of the HIV-1 protease (PR) is bound by two identical conformationally mobile loops known as flaps, which are important for substrate binding and catalysis. The present article reports, for the first time, an HIV-1 PR inhibitor, ATBI, from an extremophilic Bacillus sp. The inhibitor is found to be a hydrophilic peptide with Mr of 1147, and an amino acid sequence of Ala-Gly-Lys-Lys-Asp-Asp-Asp-Asp-Pro-Pro-Glu. Sequence homology exhibited no similarity with the reported peptidic inhibitors of HIV-1 PR. Investigation of the kinetics of the enzyme-inhibitor interactions revealed that ATBI is a noncompetitive and tight binding inhibitor with the IC(50) and K(i) values 18.0 and 17.8 nm, respectively. The binding of the inhibitor with the enzyme and the subsequent induction of the localized conformational changes in the flap region of the HIV-1 PR were monitored by exploiting the intrinsic fluorescence of the surface exposed Trp-42 residues, which are present at the proximity of the flaps. We have demonstrated by fluorescence and circular dichroism studies that ATBI binds in the active site of the HIV-1 PR and thereby leads to the inactivation of the enzyme. Based on our results, we propose that the inactivation is due to the reorganization of the flaps impairing its flexibility leading toward inaccessibility of the substrate to the active site of the enzyme.

[Proteinases of pathogenic fungi]

The present knowledge on the pathogenetic relevance of extracellular and cell wall-attached proteinases from fungal pathogens is briefly reviewed.

HIV proteinase inhibitors containing 2-aminobenzylstatine as a novel scissile bond replacement: biochemical and pharmacological characterization

Derivation of the 2-aminobenzylstatine containing HIV-1 proteinase (PR) inhibitor I led to a series of compounds with considerably improved antiviral activity, the most potent derivatives inhibiting HIV-1 with IC50 values below 25 nM. This was achieved by the combination of several structural modifications, most prominently by introduction of a benzimidazole heterocycle into the inhibitor. The mode of action of the 2-aminobenzylstatine PR inhibitors was demonstrated to be inhibition of gag precursor processing. The antiviral efficacy of the PR inhibitors was demonstrated in various cell lines, in primary T4 lymphocytes and in monocytes. The most potent compound (XI) inhibited replication of several HIV-1 clinical isolates in primary cells with IC50 values of 8 to 23 nM. The analysis of the pharmacokinetic behaviour of compounds I and VII revealed blood half-lives in rodents in the range of about 1.5 h. Compound I also showed appreciable oral uptake in mice (18%), but yielded no detectable blood levels in rats after oral administration. Benzimidazole containing compounds like VII were not orally bioavailable to a significant extent, neither in mice nor in rats. Thus, while introduction of a benzimidazole group into the PR inhibitors was a successful structural modification with regard to antiviral activity in cell culture, it completely abolished oral bioavailability.

Probing structure-function relationships in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 protease via molecular dynamics simulation

This chapter has focused on the application of molecular dynamics computer simulations and related molecular modeling techniques to the study of HIV protease structure and structure-function relationships. The abundance of crystallographic data provides ample experimental quantities (average structures, temperature factors, and hydrogen bond topography) to validate the computational techniques employed. Furthermore, these studies provide insight into the structure and functional energetics of HIV-1 protease that would be difficult or impossible to study experimentally. This chapter covers studies that investigate correlated motion between and within subunits of the protease, mutants of the protease that disrupt the tertiary structure and dimer formation, and studies of HIV-1 protease-inhibitor complexes that rationalize both the protonation state of the active site and the observed binding strength of these complexes. These studies demonstrate that MD is capable of contributing to our understanding of structure-function relationships and may aid in the design of potential therapeutics.

Molecular dynamics of HIV-1 protease

Molecular dynamics simulations have been carried out based on the GROMOS force field on the aspartyl protease (PR) of the human immunodeficiency virus HIV-1. The principal simulation treats the HIV-1 PR dimer and 6990 water molecules in a hexagonal prism cell under periodic boundary conditions and was carried out for a trajectory of 100 psec. Corresponding in vacuo simulations, i.e., treating the isolated protein without solvent, were carried out to study the influence of solvent on the simulation. The results indicate that including waters explicitly in the simulation results in a model considerably closer to the crystal structure than when solvent is neglected. Detailed conformational and helicoidal analysis was performed on the solvated form to determine the exact nature of the dynamical model and the exact points of agreement and disagreement with the crystal structure. The calculated dynamical model was further elucidated by means of studies of the time evolution of the cross-correlation coefficients for atomic displacements of the atoms comprising the protein backbone. The cross-correlation analysis revealed significant aspects of structure originating uniquely in the dynamical motions of the molecule. In particular, an unanticipated through-space, domain-domain correlation was found between the mobile flap region covering the active site and a remote regions of the structure, which collectively act somewhat like a molecular cantilever. The significance of these results is discussed with respect to the inactivation of the protease by site-specific mutagenesis, and in the design of inhibitors.

Role of the gag polyprotein precursor in packaging and maturation of Rous sarcoma virus genomic RNA

Rous sarcoma virus nucleocapsid protein (NC) has been shown by site-directed mutagenesis to be involved in viral RNA packaging and in the subsequent maturation of genomic RNA in the progeny viral particles. To investigate whether NC exerts these activities as a free protein or as a domain of the polyprotein precursor Pr76gag, we have constructed several mutants unable to process Pr76gag and analyzed their properties in a transient-transfection assay of chicken embryo fibroblasts, the natural host of Rous sarcoma virus. A point mutation in the protease (PR) active site completely prevents Pr76gag processing. The full-length Pr76gag polyprotein is still able to package viral RNA, but cannot mature it. A shorter gag precursor polyprotein lacking the C-terminal PR domain, but retaining that of the NC protein, is however, unable even to package viral RNA. This indicates that the NC protein can participate in packaging viral RNA only as part of a full-length Pr76gag and that the PR domain is, indirectly or directly, also involved in RNA packaging. These results also demonstrate that processing of Pr76gag is necessary for viral RNA dimerization.

A role for the aspartyl protease from the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in the orchestration of virus assembly

Functional HIV-1 protease (PR) is required for the maturation of viral proteins, for the appearance of characteristic structural features in the virion (as determined by electron microscopy), and for the final assembly of mature virus. Most importantly, HIV-1 PR activity is required for the development of infectivity. Still largely undefined, however, is the timing and control of protease action in this assembly process. Based on the three-dimensional structure of HIV-1 PR2,3 and experimental data reported in the literature, we propose a comprehensive virus assembly model that highlights the role of HIV-1 PR, suggests further experiments to verify the validity of the model, and poses specific questions relevant to the ultimate exploitation of HIV-1 protease as a therapeutic target.

Domain communication in the dynamical structure of human immunodeficiency virus 1 protease

A dynamical model for the structure of the human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) protease dimer in aqueous solution has been developed on the basis of molecular dynamics simulation. The model provides an accurate account of the crystal geometry and also a prediction of the structural reorganization expected to occur in the protein in aqueous solution compared to the crystalline environment. Analysis of the results by means of dynamical cross-correlation coefficients for atomic displacements indicates that domain-domain communication is present in the protein in the form of a molecular "cantilever" and is likely to be involved in enzyme function at the molecular level. The dynamical structure also suggests information that may ultimately be useful in understanding and further development of specific inhibitors of HIV-1 protease.

The 3-D structure of HIV-1 proteinase and the design of antiviral agents for the treatment of AIDS

A proteinase is essential for replication of HIV. Cloning and chemical synthesis have provided a sufficient supply of HIV-1 proteinase for the determination of its three-dimensional structure. Analogies between the structures of HIV-1 proteinase and the mammalian enzyme renin, which is involved in the control of blood pressure, have given important clues concerning the design of specific inhibitors that have antiviral activity.

Molecular targets for AIDS therapy

The development of antiretroviral therapy against acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has been an intense research effort since the discovery of the causative agent, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A large array of drugs and biologic substances can inhibit HIV replication in vitro. Nucleoside analogs--particularly those belonging to the dideoxynucleoside family--can inhibit reverse transcriptase after anabolic phosphorylation. 3'-Azido-2',3'-dideoxythymidine (AZT) was the first such drug tested in individuals with AIDS, and considerable knowledge of structure-activity relations has emerged for this class of drugs. However, virtually every step in the replication of HIV could serve as a target for a new therapeutic intervention. In the future, non-nucleoside-type drugs will likely become more important in the experimental therapy of AIDS, and antiretroviral therapy will exert major effects against the morbidity and mortality caused by HIV.

Comparison of inhibitor binding in HIV-1 protease and in non-viral aspartic proteases: the role of the flap

The crystal structure of HIV-1 protease with an inhibitor has been compared with the structures of non-viral aspartic proteases complexed with inhibitors. In the dimeric HIV-1 protease, two 4-stranded beta-sheets are formed by half of the inhibitor, residues 27-29, and the flap from each monomer. In the monomeric non-viral enzyme the single flap does not form a beta-sheet with an inhibitor. The HIV-1 protease shows more interactions with a longer peptide inhibitor than are observed in non-viral aspartic protease-inhibitor complexes. This, and the large movement of the flaps, restricts the conformation of the protease cleavage sites in the retroviral polyprotein precursor.

Mutational analysis of a native substrate of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 proteinase

Proteolytic processing of the gag/pol precursor by the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 proteinase is essential for the production of infectious viral particles. Although the sites of virus-specific cleavages have been determined, the primary amino acid sequences surrounding these sites are heterogeneous and the determinants that direct the cleavage specificity exhibited by human immunodeficiency virus type 1 proteinase remain largely undefined. We performed mutational analysis of the Tyr/Pro site, which produces the amino terminus of the viral capsid protein, and the Phe/Pro site, which produces the amino terminus of the proteinase. Mutations were made in a clone encoding a frameshift mutation that results in the expression of equimolar amounts of the substrate and proteinase in the form of a truncated gag/pol precursor. After single-amino-acid substitutions were made, their effects on proteolytic processing were examined by in vitro transcription and in vitro translation of the synthetic mRNA; translation products were then processed by exogenously added purified proteinase. Single-amino-acid substitutions yielded both substrates which were processed with wild-type efficiency and substrates on which processing was impaired. At the Tyr/Pro site in gag, processing was severely inhibited by substitutions within the P4, P2, P1, and P2' positions. The Phe/Pro site in pol, however, demonstrated far greater tolerance to amino acid substitution. These data suggest that the primary amino acid sequence around a scissile bond is more critical for cleavage of the Tyr/Pro site than the Phe/Pro site.

Modulation of experimental systemic murine candidosis by intravenous pepstatin

The effect of intravenous pepstatin-A on systemic candidosis in NWNI mice was investigated. True solutions of the inhibitor proved ineffective due to a very fast clearance. Pepstatin was effective as a crystal suspension (0.69 mg in 0.1 ml saline) which produced serum inhibitory activity for greater than 29 h. From the intravenously applied suspension, pepstatin was taken up predominantly into the liver, no inhibitor being taken up by the kidneys. The suspension was protective if it was injected once before the mice were infected and repeatedly following infection. It was also effective if it was administered concomitantly with the infecting agent and thereafter. The suspension was ineffective if it was only given once before infection, and it proved to be detrimental if it was given only after infection. The results support previous findings (2), suggesting a role of fungal proteinase early in the adherence of Candida to host epithelia. Our results also suggest an inhibition of lysosomal cathepsin-D in vivo by pepstatin, which prohibits a parenteral therapeutic use of nonmodified pepstatin A.

Fluorescence-based continuous assay for the aspartyl protease of human immunodeficiency virus-1

5-Dimethylaminoaphthalene-1-sulfonyl-Ser-Gln-Asn-Tyr-Pro-Ile-Val-T rp (Dns-SQNYPIVW) is a fluorescent substrate for the aspartyl protease of human immunodeficiency virus-1. In intact substrate, fluorescence of Trp (lambda ex 290 nm, lambda em 360 nm) was 60% quenched by energy transfer to the dansyl group. Protease-catalyzed cleavage at the Tyr-Pro bond abolished the energy transfer, and the consequent increase in Trp fluorescence was used to follow the enzymatic reaction. At substrate concentrations less than 60 microM, initial reaction velocity increased as a linear function of substrate concentration, with kcat/KM = 9700 M-1 s-1. Limited solubility and internal fluorescence quenching precluded a determination of KM for Dns-SQNYPIVW, but this was clearly greater than 100 microM.

Crystallizable HIV-1 protease derived from expression of the viral pol gene in Escherichia coli

A plasmid vector was used to express the HIV-1 pol open reading frame under the regulation of the bacterial trp promoter in Escherichia coli. This expression system has been used as a source of recombinant viral protease. The self-processed active enzyme was recovered from a soluble fraction of a bacterial cell lysate and purified by a procedure involving four steps of chromatography. The protocol yielded 0.3 mg of protease for each liter of bacterial culture. The protease formed tetragonal bipyramidal crystals which have been used in high-resolution X-ray diffraction studies.

X-ray analysis of HIV-1 proteinase at 2.7 A resolution confirms structural homology among retroviral enzymes

Knowledge of the tertiary structure of the proteinase from human immunodeficiency virus HIV-1 is important to the design of inhibitors that might possess antiviral activity and thus be useful in the treatment of AIDS. The conserved Asp-Thr/Ser-Gly sequence in retroviral proteinases suggests that they exist as dimers similar to the ancestor proposed for the pepsins. Although this has been confirmed by X-ray analyses of Rous sarcoma virus and HIV-1 proteinases, these structures have overall folds that are similar to each other only where they are also similar to the pepsins. We now report a further X-ray analysis of a recombinant HIV-1 proteinase at 2.7 A resolution. The polypeptide chain adopts a fold in which the N- and C-terminal strands are organized together in a four-stranded beta-sheet. A helix precedes the single C-terminal strand, as in the Rous sarcoma virus proteinase and also in a synthetic HIV-1 proteinase, in which the cysteines have been replaced by alpha-aminobuytric acid. The structure reported here provides an explanation for the amino acid invariance amongst retroviral proteinases, but differs from that reported earlier in some residues that are candidates for substrate interactions at P3, and in the mode of intramolecular cleavage during processing of the polyprotein.

Proteolytic activity of the plum pox potyvirus NIa-protein on excess of natural and artificial substrates in Escherichia coli

The plum pox potyvirus (PPV) NIa protease expressed from a medium copy number plasmid was able to process an excess of substrate expressed from a high copy number plasmid, in a binary Escherichia coli expression system. The delta B7 NIa protease mutant only partially processed the NIb-CP junction but its efficiency was independent of the amount of substrate. The delta B7 mutant essentially did not recognize an artificial cleavage site which was quite efficiently recognized by the wild-type protease. No competitive inhibition of the proteolytic activity by the presence of excess of different protease mutants was observed.

Substitution mutations of the highly conserved arginine 87 of HIV-1 protease result in loss of proteolytic activity

The 297bp gene coding for the HIV-1 protease was chemically synthesized and expressed in E. coli. Single amino acid substitutions (Arg 87 - greater than Lys; Arg 87 - greater than Glu) were introduced in the C-terminally located conserved region GlyArgAsn of the protease gene in the wild-type clone. The products of the mutant and the wild-type clones were expressed at approximately similar levels at 30 minutes of induction but the mutant protease proteins accumulated as a function of time of induction unlike the wild-type protease which declined after 60 minutes. The mutants were completely devoid of proteolytic activity as determined in assays employing as substrates a synthetic nonapeptide and a gag related recombinant polyprotein.

Conserved folding in retroviral proteases: crystal structure of a synthetic HIV-1 protease

The rational design of drugs that can inhibit the action of viral proteases depends on obtaining accurate structures of these enzymes. The crystal structure of chemically synthesized HIV-1 protease has been determined at 2.8 angstrom resolution (R factor of 0.184) with the use of a model based on the Rous sarcoma virus protease structure. In this enzymatically active protein, the cysteines were replaced by alpha-amino-n-butyric acid, a nongenetically coded amino acid. This structure, in which all 99 amino acids were located, differs in several important details from that reported previously by others. The interface between the identical subunits forming the active protease dimer is composed of four well-ordered beta strands from both the amino and carboxyl termini and residues 86 to 94 have a helical conformation. The observed arrangement of the dimer interface suggests possible designs for dimerization inhibitors.