ANTI-VIRAL COMPOSITIONS COMPRISING HETEROCYCLIC SUBSTITUTED PHENYL FURANS AND RELATED COMPOUNDS

摘要

A group of compounds that inhibit HIV replication by blocking HIV entry was identified. One representative compound, designated NB-206, and its analogs inhibited HIV replication (p24 production) with IC50 values at nanomolar levels. It was proved that NB-206 and its analogs are HIV entry inhibitors by targeting the HIV gp41 since: 1) they inhibited HIV-mediated cell fusion; 2) they inhibited HIV replication only when they were added to the cells less than one hour after virus addition; 3) they blocked the formation of the gp41 core that is detected by sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using a conformation- specific MAb NC-I; and 4) they inhibited the formation of the gp41 six-helix bundle revealed by fluorescence native-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (FN-PAGE) . These results suggested that NB-206 and its analogs may interact with the hydrophobic cavity and block the formation of the fusion- active gp41 coiled coil domain, resulting in inhibition of HIV-I mediated membrane fusion and virus entry.