Comprehensive profiling of mutations to influenza virus PB2 that confer resistance to the cap-binding inhibitor pimodivir

Abstract

Antivirals are used not only in current treatment of influenza, but are also stockpiled as a first line of defense against novel influenza strains for which vaccines have yet to be developed. Identifying drug resistance mutations can guide clinical deployment of the antiviral, and additionally define the mechanisms of drug action and drug resistance. Pimodivir is a first-in-class inhibitor of the polymerase basic protein 2 (PB2) subunit of the influenza A virus polymerase complex. A number of resistance mutations have previously been identified in treated patients or cell culture. Here, we generate a complete map of the effect of all single-amino-acid mutations to an avian PB2 on resistance to pimodivir. We identified both known and novel resistance mutations not only in the previously implicated cap-binding and mid-link domains, but also in the N-terminal domain. Our complete map of pimodivir resistance thus enables the evaluation of whether new viral strains contain mutations that will confer pimodivir resistance.