W8 Mechanisms of action of antiviral drugs Flashcards
What are the common characteristics of viruses? (6)
- Smaller than bacteria and ACELLULAR agents
- Submicroscopic (different sizes and shapes)
- Obligate intracellular parasites (obliged to infect cells to use the cell machinery to reproduce)
- Do not grow or undergo division (outside cells)
- Are produced by replication from the assembly of pre-formed viral components
- Possess either DNA or RNA
Recap
What makes up a virus composition?
Virion or Virus particle
Covering:
- Capsid structure
- Envelope- not always present
Central core:
- Nucleic acids
(DNA or RNA)
- Matrix proteins/ enzymes (depends on the virus)
What are antiviral drug?
-A drug interfering selectively with the
virus replication (effective) without affecting the host cell (viable and safe).
-Inhibition of a viral life cycle step.
- Used to treat infections of specific
viruses, based on the mechanism
- No universal antiviral drug is available
What are the steps in the general virus life cycle? (6)
- Attachment- A generic virus becomes attached to a target epithelial cell
- Penetration- The cell engulfs the virus by endocytosis
- Uncoating- Viral contents are released
- Biosynthesis- Viral RNA enters the nucleus where it is replicated by the viral RNA polymerase
- Protein synthesis, protein maturation and virion assembly
- Release- New viral particles are made and released into the extracellular fluid. The cell, which is not killed in the process, continues to make a new virus
Virus-targeting vs Host-targeting agents
What is an example of a Cell host target?
What are its advantages and disadvantages?
Maraviroc (HIV) – It targets the human
CCR5 protein (blocking viral entry)
Advantages:
* Reduced risk of drug resistance
* Potential broad-spectrum effect (targeting multiple viruses)
Disadvantage:
* Reduced specificity (higher risk side effects)
Virus-targeting vs Host-targeting agents
What is an example of a Virus target?
What are its advantages and disadvantages?
Sofosbuvir (HCV) - nucleotide inhibitor class (inhibition of the viral polymerase)
Advantages:
* Potential selective toxicity towards the virus
* Potential limited/reduced toxicity
Disadv
* Risk of developing drug resistance
Mechanisms of action of antiviral agents
(for info)
Target: Viral attachment
moA= Entry inhibitor (Fostemsavir or HIBV)
Viral penetration= Fusion inhibitor (Enfuvirtide for HIV)
Viral uncoating= M2 blockers (Amantadine for Influenza virus)
Nucleos(t)ide analogs
Step 1 – Virus attachment inhibitors (HIV drugs)
What is the HIV entry mechanism?
Examples:
Virus target?
Cell-host target?
- HIV gp120 proteins bind to CD4
receptor on T-immune cells) - CD4 binding= enabling gp120 to
interact with a coreceptor protein
(CCR5 or CXCR4) of the host cell
Fostemsavir- targets the HIV gp120
-prevents its binding to CD4,
the cellular receptor
Maraviroc
* CCR5 antagonist,
* prevents the HIV-1 gp120/CCR5 interaction.
* It is not active with CXCR4-tropic HIV viruses
* Trofile test is needed to determine if HIV uses CCR5 or CXCR4
What are the HIV drugs?
Fostemsavir
Maraviroc
What is the moA of Fostemsavir?
(Virus target)
- targets the HIV gp120
- prevents its binding to CD4, the cellular receptor
What is the moA of Maraviroc?
(Cell-host target)
- CCR5 antagonist,
- prevents the HIV-1 gp120/CCR5 interaction.
- It is not active with CXCR4-tropic HIV viruses
- Trofile test is needed to determine if HIV uses CCR5 or CXCR4
Step 2 – Fusion inhibitors (HIV drug)
What occurs in this step?
Example of this drug?
Coreceptor binding induces insertion
of the gp41 fusion peptide into the
cell membrane
* This promotes fusion between the
viral envelope & host membranes
Enfuvirtide (Fuzeon)
* Peptide derived from gp41, to mimic components of the HIV-1 fusion machinery
* It binds to gp41, preventing the HIV envelope fusion with the cell membrane
Step 3 – Viral uncoating inhibitors virus
What occurs?
What are examples of M2 blockers?
SE? Why are they no longer reccomended?
- The influenza virus M2 protein is a proton channel embedded in the viral envelope
- Influenza virus entry activates the M2
- Protons enter the viral core= acidification
- Viral genome is released into the cell
M2 blockers (Amantadine and Rimantadine)
* They bind and block the M2 channel lumen
* Preventing virus uncoating
CNS side effects (hallucinations &confusion)
-99% of circulating influenza viruses are M2-resistant
- No longer recommended by BNF
- Amantadine has anti-parkinsonian unrelated effects -treats parkinsons
Step 4 – Viral genome replication
What do viruses use viral polymerase enzymes to do? (2)
Role of HIV reverse transcriptase? (3)
Viruses use viral polymerase enzymes and/or cellular enzymes to:
- Replicate their genome
- Transcription of viral genes to produce proteins= hijacking the host cell machinery
This step is virus-specific (DNA/RNA viruses or retrovirus like HIV)
HIV reverse transcriptase (RT)
* Performs reverse transcription= using single-stranded RNA genome to generate complementary DNA (cDNA)
* HIV cDNA can be integrated into the human DNA
* HIV cDNA is used by the cellular enzymes to transcribe RNA to produce viral proteins and replicate genome
Viral polymerase inhibitors represent the largest class of virus-targeting agents
Step 4 – Same basic polymerase principles
- Viral polymerases replicate viral genomes
- Incorporating complementary
triphosphate nucleotides based on the
template. - Synthesising nucleic acids from 5’ to 3’
- Forming phosphodiester bonds
between the 3ʹ end of the growing DNA
chain and the 5ʹ-phosphate group of the
incoming nucleotide