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Aptamer Displacement Identifies Alternative Small-Molecule Target Sites that Escape Viral Resistance

Satoko Yamazaki, Lu Tan, Günter Mayer, Jörg S. Hartig, Jin Na Song, Sandra Reuter, Tobias Restle, Sandra D. Laufer, Dina Grohmann, Hans Georg Kräusslich, Jürgen Bajorath*, Michael Famulok

*Corresponding author for this work

    Abstract

    Aptamers targeting reverse transcriptase (RT) from HIV-1 inhibit viral replication in vitro, presumably by competing with binding of the primer/template complex. This site is not targeted by the currently available small-molecule anti-HIV-1 RT inhibitors. We have identified SY-3E4, a small-molecule inhibitor of HIV-1 RT, by applying a screening assay that utilizes a reporter-ribozyme regulated by the anti-HIV-1 RT aptamer. SY-3E4 displaces the aptamer from the protein, selectively inhibits DNA-dependent, but not RNA-dependent, polymerase activity, and inhibits the replication of both the wild-type virus and a multidrug-resistant strain. Analysis of available structural data of HIV-1 and HIV-2 RTs rationalizes many of the observed characteristics of the inhibitory profiles of SY-3E4 and the aptamer and suggests a previously not considered region in these RTs as a target for antiviral therapy. Our study reveals unexplored ways for rapidly identifying alternative small-molecule target sites in proteins and illustrates strategies for overcoming resistance-conferring mutations with small molecules.

    Original languageEnglish
    JournalChemistry and Biology
    Volume14
    Issue number7
    Pages (from-to)804-812
    Number of pages9
    ISSN1074-5521
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 30.07.2007

    Funding

    We thank A. Schmitz and the members of the Famulok lab for helpful discussions, K. Rotscheidt for technical assistance, and H. Walter (Erlangen) for a plasmid carrying the multidrug-resistant HIV-1 sequence. This work was supported by grants from the Sonderforschungsbereich 704 (to M.F. and J.B.), the Sonderforschungsbereich 544 (to H.-G.K.), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (to M.F.), the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie (to M.F.), the European Community (to T.R.), and the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst DAAD (to S.Y.).

    UN SDGs

    This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

    1. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
      SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

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