Title | A novel, broad-spectrum inhibitor of enterovirus replication that targets host cell factor phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase IIIbeta. | ||
Author | van der Schaar, Hilde M; Leyssen, Pieter; Thibaut, Hendrik J; de Palma, Armando; van der Linden, Lonneke; Lanke, Kjerstin H W; Lacroix, Celine; Verbeken, Erik; Conrath, Katja; Macleod, Angus M; Mitchell, Dale R; Palmer, Nicholas J; van de Poel, Herve; Andrews, Martin; Neyts, Johan; van Kuppeveld, Frank J M | ||
Journal | Antimicrob Agents Chemother | Publication Year/Month | 2013-Oct |
PMID | 23896472 | PMCID | PMC3811463 |
Affiliation | 1.Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Virology Division, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. |
Despite their high clinical and socioeconomic impacts, there is currently no approved antiviral therapy for the prophylaxis or treatment of enterovirus infections. Here we report on a novel inhibitor of enterovirus replication, compound 1, 2-fluoro-4-(2-methyl-8-(3-(methylsulfonyl)benzylamino)imidazo[1,2-a]pyrazin-3-yl)phenol. This compound exhibited a broad spectrum of antiviral activity, as it inhibited all tested species of enteroviruses and rhinoviruses, with 50% effective concentrations ranging between 4 and 71 nM. After a lengthy resistance selection process, coxsackievirus mutants resistant to compound 1 were isolated that carried substitutions in their 3A protein. Remarkably, the same substitutions were recently shown to provide resistance to inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase IIIbeta (PI4KIIIbeta), a lipid kinase that is essential for enterovirus replication, suggesting that compound 1 may also target this host factor. Accordingly, compound 1 directly inhibited PI4KIIIbeta in an in vitro kinase activity assay. Furthermore, the compound strongly reduced the PI 4-phosphate levels of the Golgi complex in cells. Rescue of coxsackievirus replication in the presence of compound 1 by a mutant PI4KIIIbeta carrying a substitution in its ATP-binding pocket revealed that the compound directly binds the kinase at this site. Finally, we determined that an analogue of compound 1, 3-(3-fluoro-4-methoxyphenyl)-2-methyl-N-(pyridin-4-ylmethyl)imidazo[1,2-a]pyrazin-8-amine, is well tolerated in mice and has a dose-dependent protective activity in a coxsackievirus serotype B4-induced pancreatitis model.