Download MendeleyRational improvement of gp41-targeting HIV-1 fusion inhibitors: an innovatively designed Ile-Asp-Leu tail with alternative conformations
Zhu, Y., Su, S., Qin, L., Wang, Q., Shi, L., Ma, Z., Tang, J., Jiang, S., Lu, L., Ye, S., Zhang, R.(2016) Sci Rep 6: 31983-31983
- PubMed: 27666394
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/srep31983
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:
5HFL, 5HFM - PubMed Abstract:
Peptides derived from the C-terminal heptad repeat (CHR) of HIV gp41 have been developed as effective fusion inhibitors against HIV-1, but facing the challenges of enhancing potency and stability. Here, we report a rationally designed novel HIV-1 fusion inhibitor derived from CHR-derived peptide (Trp628~Gln653, named CP), but with an innovative Ile-Asp-Leu tail (IDL) that dramatically increased the inhibitory activity by up to 100 folds. We also determined the crystal structures of artificial fusion peptides N36- and N43-L6-CP-IDL. Although the overall structures of both fusion peptides share the canonical six-helix bundle (6-HB) configuration, their IDL tails adopt two different conformations: a one-turn helix with the N36, and a hook-like structure with the longer N43. Structural comparison showed that the hook-like IDL tail possesses a larger interaction interface with NHR than the helical one. Further molecular dynamics simulations of the two 6-HBs and isolated CP-IDL peptides suggested that hook-like form of IDL tail can be stabilized by its binding to NHR trimer. Therefore, CP-IDL has potential for further development as a new HIV fusion inhibitor, and this strategy could be widely used in developing artificial fusion inhibitors against HIV and other enveloped viruses.
Organizational Affiliation:
National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
