Discovery of HIV-1 Integrase Inhibitors: Pharmacophore Mapping, Virtual Screening, Molecular Docking, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation

A computational overview of integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs) against emerging and evolving drug-resistant HIV-1 integrase mutants

AIDS (Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is one of the chronic and potentially life-threatening epidemics across the world. Hitherto, the non-existence of definitive drugs that could completely cure the Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) implies an urgent necessity for the discovery of novel anti-HIV agents. Since integration is the most crucial stage in retroviral replication, hindering it can inhibit overall viral transmission. The 5 FDA-approved integrase inhibitors were computationally investigated, especially owing to the rising multiple mutations against their susceptibility. This comparative study will open new possibilities to guide the rational design of novel lead compounds for antiretroviral therapies (ARTs), more specifically the structure-based design of novel Integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs) that may possess a better resistance profile than present drugs. Further, we have discussed potent anti-HIV natural compounds and their interactions as an alternative approach, recommending the urgent need to tap into the rich vein of indigenous knowledge for reverse pharmacology. Moreover, herein, we discuss existing evidence that might change in the near future.

Combiphore (Structure and Ligand Based Pharmacophore) - Approach for the Design of GPR40 Modulators in the Management of Diabetes

BACKGROUND

Pharmacophore mapping and molecular docking can be synergistically integrated to improve the drug design and discovery process. A rational strategy, combiphore approach, derived from the combined study of Structure and Ligand based pharmacophore has been described to identify novel GPR40 modulators.

METHODS

DISCOtech module from Discovery studio was used for the generation of the Structure and Ligand based pharmacophore models which gave hydrophobic aromatic, ring aromatic and negative ionizable as essential pharmacophoric features. The generated models were validated by screening active and inactive datasets, GH scoring and ROC curve analysis. The best model was exposed as a 3D query to screen the hits from databases like GLASS (GPCR-Ligand Association), GPCR SARfari and Mini-Maybridge. Various filters were applied to retrieve the hit molecules having good drug-like properties. A known protein structure of hGPR40 (pdb: 4PHU) having TAK-875 as ligand complex was used to perform the molecular docking studies; using SYBYL-X 1.2 software.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

Clustering both the models gave RMSD of 0.89. Therefore, the present approach explored the maximum features by combining both ligand and structure based pharmacophore models. A common structural motif as identified in combiphore for GPR40 modulation consists of the para-substituted phenyl propionic acid scaffold. Therefore, the combiphore approach, whereby maximum structural information (from both ligand and biological protein) is explored, gives maximum insights into the plausible protein-ligand interactions and provides potential lead candidates as exemplified in this study.

Structural requirements for potential HIV-integrase inhibitors identified using pharmacophore-based virtual screening and molecular dynamics studies

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a life-threatening disease which is a collection of symptoms and infections caused by a retrovirus, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). There is currently no curative treatment and therapy is reliant on the use of existing anti-retroviral drugs. Pharmacoinformatics approaches have already proven their pivotal role in the pharmaceutical industry for lead identification and optimization. In the current study, we analysed the binding preferences and inhibitory activity of HIV-integrase inhibitors using pharmacoinformatics. A set of 30 compounds were selected as the training set of a total 540 molecules for pharmacophore model generation. The final model was validated by statistical parameters and further used for virtual screening. The best mapped model (R = 0.940, RMSD = 2.847, Q(2) = 0.912, se = 0.498, Rpred(2) = 0.847 and rm(test)(2) = 0.636) explained that two hydrogen bond acceptor and one aromatic ring features were crucial for the inhibition of HIV-integrase. From virtual screening, initial hits were sorted using a number of parameters and finally two compounds were proposed as promising HIV-integrase inhibitors. Drug-likeness properties of the final screened compounds were compared to FDA approved HIV-integrase inhibitors. HIV-integrase structure in complex with the most active and final screened compounds were subjected to 50 ns molecular dynamics (MD) simulation studies to check comparative stability of the complexes. The study suggested that the screened compounds might be promising HIV-integrase inhibitors. The new chemical entities obtained from the NCI database will be subjected to experimental studies to confirm potential inhibition of HIV integrase.

Development of HIV-1 integrase inhibitors: recent molecular modeling perspectives

Of the three viral enzymes essential to HIV replication, HIV-1 integrase (IN) is gaining popularity as a target for the antiviral therapy of AIDS. Substantial work focusing on IN has been done over the past three decades, which has facilitated and led to the approval of three drugs. Here, we discuss in detail the development of IN inhibitors between January 2012 and May 2014, with a particular focus on molecular simulation. We highlight controversial aspects of computational drug design and refer to alternative practices where appropriate. The analysis of these computational approaches provides some useful clues to the possible future discovery of novel IN inhibitors.