Rolf Noreen

Urea-PETT compounds as a new class of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitors. 3. Synthesis and further structure-activity relationship studies of PETT analogues

The further development of allosteric HIV-1 RT inhibitors in the urea analogue series of PETT (phenylethylthiazolylthiourea) derivatives is described here. The series includes derivatives with an ethyl linker (1-5) and racemic (6-16) and enantiomeric (17-20) cis-cyclopropane compounds. The antiviral activity was determined both at the RT level and in cell culture on both wild-type and mutant forms of HIV-1. Most compounds have anti-HIV-1 activity on the wt in the nanomolar range. Resistant HIV-1 was selected in vitro for some of the compounds, and the time for resistant HIV-1 to develop was longer for urea-PETT compounds than it was for reference compounds. Preliminary pharmacokinetics in rats showed that compound 18 is orally bioavailable and penetrates well into the brain. The three-dimensional structure of complexes between HIV-1 RT and two enantiomeric compounds (17 and 18) have been determined. The structures show similar binding in the NNI binding pocket. The propionylphenyl moieties of both inhibitors show perfect stacking to tyrosine residues 181 and 188. The cyclopropyl moiety of the (+)-enantiomer 18 exhibits optimal packing distances for the interactions with leucine residue 100 and valine residue 179.

Synthesis and anti-HIV activities of urea-pETT analogs belonging to a new class of potent non-nucleoside HIV-1 Reverse transcriptase inhibitors

A series of potent specific HIV-1 RT inhibitory compounds is described. The compounds are urea analogs of PETT (PhenylEthylThiazoleThiourea) derivatives and the series includes derivatives with an ethyl linker (1-6) and conformationally restricted analogs (7-13). The antiviral activity is determined both at the RT level and in cell culture on both native and mutant forms of HIV-1. Many compounds display activity in the nM range against wt-RT.

Enzymatic properties and sensitivity to inhibitors of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) reverse transcriptase with Glu-138→Arg and Tyr-188→His mutations

Two mutants of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT), Tyr-188-->His and Glu-138-->Arg have been prepared and their catalytic properties and sensitivities to inhibitors studied. As compared to wild type RT, a reduction in catalytic efficiency and turn over number was observed, especially for the Tyr-188-->His mutant. The non-nucleoside inhibitors nevirapine, L-697,661 and 9-Cl-TIBO caused a mixed type of inhibition of RT (Arg-138) with respect to substrate, and with the exception of a non-competitive inhibition by nevirapine, also a mixed type of inhibition of RT (His-188). Foscarnet (PFA) caused a non-competitive type of inhibition of RT (Arg-138) and a mixed inhibition of RT (His-188). The inhibition by ddG-TP was competitive with both mutant RTs. Inhibition by nevirapine gave IC50 values of 0.15, 0.23 and 0.72 microM; by 9-Cl-TIBO of 0.20, 2.50 and 10.3 microM; by L-697,661 of 0.064, 0.28 and 0.60 microM; by ddGTP of 0.13, 0.14 and 0.02 microM; by PFA of 17.0, 48.0 and 15.0 microM for RT wt, RT (Arg-138) and RT (His-188), respectively.