In silico design of novel broad anti-HIV-1 agents based on glycosphingolipid β-galactosylceramide, a high-affinity receptor for the envelope gp120 V3 loop.
Novel anti-Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 agents targeting the V3 loop of envelope protein gp120 were designed by computer modeling based on glycosphingolipid β-galactosylceramide (β-GalCer), which is an alternative receptor allowing HIV-1 entry into CD4-negative cells of neural and colonic origin. Models of these β-GalCer analogs bound to the V3 loops from five various HIV-1 variants were generated by molecular docking and their stability was estimated by molecular dynamics (MDs) and binding free energy simulations. Specific binding to the V3 loop was accomplished primarily by non-conventional XH…π interactions between CH/OH sugar groups of the glycolipids and the conserved V3 residues with π-conjugated side chains. The designed compounds were found to block the tip and/or the base of the V3 loop, which form invariant structural motifs that contain residues critical for cell tropism. With the MDs calculations, the docked models of the complexes of the β-GalCer analogs with V3 are energetically stable in all of the cases of interest and exhibit low values of free energy of their formation. Based on the data obtained, these compounds are considered as promising basic structures for the rational design of novel, potent, and broad-spectrum anti-HIV-1 therapeutics.
['Andrianov|Alexander M|AM|', 'Kornoushenko|Yuri V|YV|', 'Kashyn|Ivan A|IA|', 'Kisel|Mikhail A|MA|', 'Tuzikov|Alexander V|AV|']
D019380:Anti-HIV Agents D001667:Binding, Competitive D002518:Ceramides D003198:Computer Simulation D015195:Drug Design D006028:Glycosphingolipids D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120 D015497:HIV-1 D006801:Humans D062105:Molecular Docking Simulation D056004:Molecular Dynamics Simulation D015394:Molecular Structure D009005:Monosaccharides D011485:Protein Binding D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary D015728:Receptors, HIV D013816:Thermodynamics
anti-HIV-1 agents gp120 V3 loop HIV-1 computer-aided drug design glycolipid β-galactosylceramide