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Lobinska G, Pilpel Y, Nowak MA. Evolutionary safety of lethal mutagenesis driven by antiviral treatment. PLoS Biol 2023; 21:e3002214. [PMID: 37552682 PMCID: PMC10409280 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2022] [Accepted: 06/23/2023] [Indexed: 08/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Nucleoside analogs are a major class of antiviral drugs. Some act by increasing the viral mutation rate causing lethal mutagenesis of the virus. Their mutagenic capacity, however, may lead to an evolutionary safety concern. We define evolutionary safety as a probabilistic assurance that the treatment will not generate an increased number of mutants. We develop a mathematical framework to estimate the total mutant load produced with and without mutagenic treatment. We predict rates of appearance of such virus mutants as a function of the timing of treatment and the immune competence of patients, employing realistic assumptions about the vulnerability of the viral genome and its potential to generate viable mutants. We focus on the case study of Molnupiravir, which is an FDA-approved treatment against Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19). We estimate that Molnupiravir is narrowly evolutionarily safe, subject to the current estimate of parameters. Evolutionary safety can be improved by restricting treatment with this drug to individuals with a low immunological clearance rate and, in future, by designing treatments that lead to a greater increase in mutation rate. We report a simple mathematical rule to determine the fold increase in mutation rate required to obtain evolutionary safety that is also applicable to other pathogen-treatment combinations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriela Lobinska
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Yitzhak Pilpel
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Martin A. Nowak
- Department of Mathematics, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
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Franco EJ, Cella E, Tao X, Hanrahan KC, Azarian T, Brown AN. Favipiravir Suppresses Zika Virus (ZIKV) through Activity as a Mutagen. Microorganisms 2023; 11:1342. [PMID: 37317316 PMCID: PMC10224157 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11051342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2023] [Revised: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 05/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/16/2023] Open
Abstract
In a companion paper, we demonstrated that the nucleoside analogue favipiravir (FAV) suppressed Zika virus (ZIKV) replication in three human-derived cell lines-HeLa, SK-N-MC, and HUH-7. Our results revealed that FAV's effect was most pronounced in HeLa cells. In this work, we aimed to explain variation in FAV activity, investigating its mechanism of action and characterizing host cell factors relevant to tissue-specific differences in drug effect. Using viral genome sequencing, we show that FAV therapy was associated with an increase in the number of mutations and promoted the production of defective viral particles in all three cell lines. Our findings demonstrate that defective viral particles made up a larger portion of the viral population released from HeLa cells both at increasing FAV concentrations and at increasing exposure times. Taken together, our companion papers show that FAV acts via lethal mutagenesis against ZIKV and highlight the host cell's influence on the activation and antiviral activity of nucleoside analogues. Furthermore, the information gleaned from these companion papers can be applied to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the activity of nucleoside analogues and the impact of host cell factors against other viral infections for which we currently have no approved antiviral therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evelyn J. Franco
- Institute for Therapeutic Innovation, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Orlando, FL 32827, USA; (E.J.F.); (K.C.H.)
- Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Orlando, FL 32827, USA;
| | - Eleonora Cella
- Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32827, USA; (E.C.); (T.A.)
| | - Xun Tao
- Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Orlando, FL 32827, USA;
| | - Kaley C. Hanrahan
- Institute for Therapeutic Innovation, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Orlando, FL 32827, USA; (E.J.F.); (K.C.H.)
| | - Taj Azarian
- Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32827, USA; (E.C.); (T.A.)
| | - Ashley N. Brown
- Institute for Therapeutic Innovation, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Orlando, FL 32827, USA; (E.J.F.); (K.C.H.)
- Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Orlando, FL 32827, USA;
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Hadj Hassine I, Ben M’hadheb M, Menéndez-Arias L. Lethal Mutagenesis of RNA Viruses and Approved Drugs with Antiviral Mutagenic Activity. Viruses 2022; 14:841. [PMID: 35458571 PMCID: PMC9024455 DOI: 10.3390/v14040841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2022] [Revised: 04/11/2022] [Accepted: 04/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
In RNA viruses, a small increase in their mutation rates can be sufficient to exceed their threshold of viability. Lethal mutagenesis is a therapeutic strategy based on the use of mutagens, driving viral populations to extinction. Extinction catastrophe can be experimentally induced by promutagenic nucleosides in cell culture models. The loss of HIV infectivity has been observed after passage in 5-hydroxydeoxycytidine or 5,6-dihydro-5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine while producing a two-fold increase in the viral mutation frequency. Among approved nucleoside analogs, experiments with polioviruses and other RNA viruses suggested that ribavirin can be mutagenic, although its mechanism of action is not clear. Favipiravir and molnupiravir exert an antiviral effect through lethal mutagenesis. Both drugs are broad-spectrum antiviral agents active against RNA viruses. Favipiravir incorporates into viral RNA, affecting the G→A and C→U transition rates. Molnupiravir (a prodrug of β-d-N4-hydroxycytidine) has been recently approved for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Its triphosphate derivative can be incorporated into viral RNA and extended by the coronavirus RNA polymerase. Incorrect base pairing and inefficient extension by the polymerase promote mutagenesis by increasing the G→A and C→U transition frequencies. Despite having remarkable antiviral action and resilience to drug resistance, carcinogenic risks and genotoxicity are important concerns limiting their extended use in antiviral therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ikbel Hadj Hassine
- Unité de Recherche UR17ES30 “Génomique, Biotechnologie et Stratégies Antivirales”, Institut Supérieur de Biotechnologie, Université de Monastir, Monastir 5000, Tunisia; (I.H.H.); (M.B.M.)
| | - Manel Ben M’hadheb
- Unité de Recherche UR17ES30 “Génomique, Biotechnologie et Stratégies Antivirales”, Institut Supérieur de Biotechnologie, Université de Monastir, Monastir 5000, Tunisia; (I.H.H.); (M.B.M.)
| | - Luis Menéndez-Arias
- Centro de Biología Molecular “Severo Ochoa” (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas & Universidad Autónoma de Madrid), 28049 Madrid, Spain
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Ebrahimi S, Nonacs P. Genetic diversity through social heterosis can increase virulence in RNA viral infections and cancer progression. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 8:202219. [PMID: 34035948 PMCID: PMC8097216 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.202219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2020] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
In viral infections and cancer tumours, negative health outcomes often correlate with increasing genetic diversity. Possible evolutionary processes for such relationships include mutant lineages escaping host control or diversity, per se, creating too many immune system targets. Another possibility is social heterosis where mutations and replicative errors create clonal lineages varying in intrinsic capability for successful dispersal; improved environmental buffering; resource extraction or effective defence against immune systems. Rather than these capabilities existing in one genome, social heterosis proposes complementary synergies occur across lineages in close proximity. Diverse groups overcome host defences as interacting 'social genomes' with group genetic tool kits exceeding limited individual plasticity. To assess the possibility of social heterosis in viral infections and cancer progression, we conducted extensive literature searches for examples consistent with general and specific predictions from the social heterosis hypothesis. Numerous studies found supportive patterns in cancers across multiple tissues and in several families of RNA viruses. In viruses, social heterosis mechanisms probably result from long coevolutionary histories of competition between pathogen and host. Conversely, in cancers, social heterosis is a by-product of recent mutations. Investigating how social genomes arise and function in viral quasi-species swarms and cancer tumours may lead to new therapeutic approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saba Ebrahimi
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA
| | - Peter Nonacs
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA
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Rubio L, Galipienso L, Ferriol I. Detection of Plant Viruses and Disease Management: Relevance of Genetic Diversity and Evolution. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2020; 11:1092. [PMID: 32765569 PMCID: PMC7380168 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.01092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 110] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2020] [Accepted: 07/02/2020] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Plant viruses cause considerable economic losses and are a threat for sustainable agriculture. The frequent emergence of new viral diseases is mainly due to international trade, climate change, and the ability of viruses for rapid evolution. Disease control is based on two strategies: i) immunization (genetic resistance obtained by plant breeding, plant transformation, cross-protection, or others), and ii) prophylaxis to restrain virus dispersion (using quarantine, certification, removal of infected plants, control of natural vectors, or other procedures). Disease management relies strongly on a fast and accurate identification of the causal agent. For known viruses, diagnosis consists in assigning a virus infecting a plant sample to a group of viruses sharing common characteristics, which is usually referred to as species. However, the specificity of diagnosis can also reach higher taxonomic levels, as genus or family, or lower levels, as strain or variant. Diagnostic procedures must be optimized for accuracy by detecting the maximum number of members within the group (sensitivity as the true positive rate) and distinguishing them from outgroup viruses (specificity as the true negative rate). This requires information on the genetic relationships within-group and with members of other groups. The influence of the genetic diversity of virus populations in diagnosis and disease management is well documented, but information on how to integrate the genetic diversity in the detection methods is still scarce. Here we review the techniques used for plant virus diagnosis and disease control, including characteristics such as accuracy, detection level, multiplexing, quantification, portability, and designability. The effect of genetic diversity and evolution of plant viruses in the design and performance of some detection and disease control techniques are also discussed. High-throughput or next-generation sequencing provides broad-spectrum and accurate identification of viruses enabling multiplex detection, quantification, and the discovery of new viruses. Likely, this technique will be the future standard in diagnostics as its cost will be dropping and becoming more affordable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Rubio
- Centro de Protección Vegetal y Biotecnology, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias, Moncada, Spain
- *Correspondence: Luis Rubio,
| | - Luis Galipienso
- Centro de Protección Vegetal y Biotecnology, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias, Moncada, Spain
| | - Inmaculada Ferriol
- Plant Responses to Stress Programme, Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG-CSIC_UAB-UB) Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
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Abstract
Selection of viral mutants resistant to compounds used in therapy is a major determinant of treatment failure, a problem akin to antibiotic resistance in bacteria. In this scenario, mutagenic base and nucleoside analogs have entered the picture because they increase the mutation rate of viral populations to levels incompatible with their survival. This antiviral strategy is termed lethal mutagenesis. It has found a major impulse with the observation that some antiviral agents, which initially were considered only inhibitors of virus multiplication, may in effect exert part of their antiviral activity through mutagenesis. Here, we review the conceptual basis of lethal mutagenesis, the evidence of virus extinction through mutagenic nucleotide analogs and prospects for application in antiviral designs.
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Fornés J, Tomás Lázaro J, Alarcón T, Elena SF, Sardanyés J. Viral replication modes in single-peak fitness landscapes: A dynamical systems analysis. J Theor Biol 2018; 460:170-183. [PMID: 30300648 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2018.10.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2017] [Revised: 08/30/2018] [Accepted: 10/02/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Positive-sense, single-stranded RNA viruses are important pathogens infecting almost all types of organisms. Experimental evidence from distributions of mutations and from viral RNA amplification suggest that these pathogens may follow different RNA replication modes, ranging from the stamping machine replication (SMR) to the geometric replication (GR) mode. Although previous theoretical work has focused on the evolutionary dynamics of RNA viruses amplifying their genomes with different strategies, little is known in terms of the bifurcations and transitions involving the so-called error threshold (mutation-induced dominance of mutants) and lethal mutagenesis (extinction of all sequences due to mutation accumulation and demographic stochasticity). Here we analyze a dynamical system describing the intracellular amplification of viral RNA genomes evolving on a single-peak fitness landscape focusing on three cases considering neutral, deleterious, and lethal mutants. We analytically derive the critical mutation rates causing lethal mutagenesis and error threshold, governed by transcritical bifurcations that depend on parameters α (parameter introducing the mode of replication), replicative fitness of mutants (k1), and on the spontaneous degradation rates of the sequences (ϵ). Our results relate the error catastrophe with lethal mutagenesis in a model with continuous populations of viral genomes. The former case involves dominance of the mutant sequences, while the latter, a deterministic extinction of the viral RNAs during replication due to increased mutation. For the lethal case the critical mutation rate involving lethal mutagenesis is μc=1-ɛ/α. Here, the SMR involves lower critical mutation rates, being the system more robust to lethal mutagenesis replicating closer to the GR mode. This result is also found for the neutral and deleterious cases, but for these later cases lethal mutagenesis can shift to the error threshold once the replication mode surpasses a threshold given by α=ϵ/k1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joan Fornés
- Departament de Matemàtiques, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Av Diagonal, 647, Barcelona 08028, Spain
| | - J Tomás Lázaro
- Departament de Matemàtiques, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Av Diagonal, 647, Barcelona 08028, Spain; Barcelona Graduate School of Mathematics (BGSMath) Campus de Bellaterra, Edifici C, Bellaterra, Barcelona 08193, Spain
| | - Tomás Alarcón
- Barcelona Graduate School of Mathematics (BGSMath) Campus de Bellaterra, Edifici C, Bellaterra, Barcelona 08193, Spain; Centre de Recerca Matemàtica, Campus de Bellaterra, Edifici C, Bellaterra, Barcelona 08193, Spain; ICREA, Pg. Lluis Companys 23, Barcelona 08010, Spain; Departament de Matemàtiques, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Santiago F Elena
- Instituto de Biología Integrativa de Sistemas, CSIC-Universitat de València, Parc Cientific UV, Catedrático Agustín Escardino 9, Paterna, València 46980, Spain; The Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
| | - Josep Sardanyés
- Centre de Recerca Matemàtica, Campus de Bellaterra, Edifici C, Bellaterra, Barcelona 08193, Spain; Barcelona Graduate School of Mathematics (BGSMath) Campus de Bellaterra, Edifici C, Bellaterra, Barcelona 08193, Spain.
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Gregori J, Soria ME, Gallego I, Guerrero-Murillo M, Esteban JI, Quer J, Perales C, Domingo E. Rare haplotype load as marker for lethal mutagenesis. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0204877. [PMID: 30281674 PMCID: PMC6169937 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204877] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2018] [Accepted: 08/19/2018] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
RNA viruses replicate with a template-copying fidelity, which lies close to an extinction threshold. Increases of mutation rate by nucleotide analogues can drive viruses towards extinction. This transition is the basis of an antiviral strategy termed lethal mutagenesis. We have introduced a new diversity index, the rare haplotype load (RHL), to describe NS5B (polymerase) mutant spectra of hepatitis C virus (HCV) populations passaged in absence or presence of the mutagenic agents favipiravir or ribavirin. The increase in RHL is more prominent in mutant spectra whose expansions were due to nucleotide analogues than to multiple passages in absence of mutagens. Statistical tests for paired mutagenized versus non-mutagenized samples with 14 diversity indices show that RHL provides consistently the highest standardized effect of mutagenic treatment difference for ribavirin and favipiravir. The results indicate that the enrichment of viral quasispecies in very low frequency minority genomes can serve as a robust marker for lethal mutagenesis. The diagnostic value of RHL from deep sequencing data is relevant to experimental studies on enhanced mutagenesis of viruses, and to pharmacological evaluations of inhibitors suspected to have a mutagenic activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josep Gregori
- Liver Unit, Liver Disease Laboratory-Viral Hepatitis, Internal Medicine Department, Vall d’Hebron Institut Recerca (VHIR)-Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron (HUVH), Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd) del Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
- Roche Diagnostics, S.L., Sant Cugat del Vallés, Barcelona, Spain
| | - María Eugenia Soria
- Liver Unit, Liver Disease Laboratory-Viral Hepatitis, Internal Medicine Department, Vall d’Hebron Institut Recerca (VHIR)-Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron (HUVH), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Isabel Gallego
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd) del Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Biología Molecular “Severo Ochoa” (CSIC-UAM), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Campus de Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain
| | - Mercedes Guerrero-Murillo
- Liver Unit, Liver Disease Laboratory-Viral Hepatitis, Internal Medicine Department, Vall d’Hebron Institut Recerca (VHIR)-Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron (HUVH), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Juan Ignacio Esteban
- Liver Unit, Liver Disease Laboratory-Viral Hepatitis, Internal Medicine Department, Vall d’Hebron Institut Recerca (VHIR)-Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron (HUVH), Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd) del Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
- Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Josep Quer
- Liver Unit, Liver Disease Laboratory-Viral Hepatitis, Internal Medicine Department, Vall d’Hebron Institut Recerca (VHIR)-Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron (HUVH), Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd) del Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
- Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- * E-mail: (CP); (JQ)
| | - Celia Perales
- Liver Unit, Liver Disease Laboratory-Viral Hepatitis, Internal Medicine Department, Vall d’Hebron Institut Recerca (VHIR)-Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron (HUVH), Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd) del Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Biología Molecular “Severo Ochoa” (CSIC-UAM), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Campus de Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain
- * E-mail: (CP); (JQ)
| | - Esteban Domingo
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd) del Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Biología Molecular “Severo Ochoa” (CSIC-UAM), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Campus de Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain
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