BACKBONE CYCLIC PEPTIDE, WHICH MIMICS THE NUCLEAR-LOCALIZATION SIGNALOF HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS TYPE-1 MATRIX PROTEIN, INHIBITS NUCLEAR IMPORT AND VIRUS PRODUCTION IN NONDIVIDING CELLS
A. Friedler et al., BACKBONE CYCLIC PEPTIDE, WHICH MIMICS THE NUCLEAR-LOCALIZATION SIGNALOF HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS TYPE-1 MATRIX PROTEIN, INHIBITS NUCLEAR IMPORT AND VIRUS PRODUCTION IN NONDIVIDING CELLS, Biochemistry, 37(16), 1998, pp. 5616-5622
Here, we describe an application of the backbone cyclic (BC) proteinom
imetic approach to the design and the synthesis of a BC peptide which
functionally mimics the nuclear localization signal (NLS) region of th
e human immunodeficiency virus type 1 matrix protein (HIV-1 MA). On th
e basis of the NMR structure of HIV-1 MA, a library of BC peptides was
designed and screened for the ability to inhibit nuclear import of NL
S-BSA in digitonin-permeabilized HeLa and Colo-205 cultured cells. The
screening yielded a lead compound (IC50 = 3 mu M) which was used for
the design of a second library. This library led to the discovery of a
highly potent BC peptide, designated BCvir, with an IC50 value of 35
nM. This inhibitory potency is compared to a value of 12 mu M exhibite
d by the linear parent HIV-1 MA NLS peptide. BCvir also reduced HIV-1
production by 75% in infected nondividing cultured human T-cells and w
as relatively resistant to tryptic digestion. These properties make BC
vir a potential candidate for the development of a novel class of anti
viral drugs which will be based on blocking nuclear import of viral ge
nomes.