Rational improvement of gp41-targeting HIV-1 fusion inhibitors: an innovatively designed Ile-Asp-Leu tail with alternative conformations.
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.
National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
Yun
Y
Zhu
Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology of Ministries of Education and Health, Basic Medical College and Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China.
Shan
S
Su
National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
Lili
L
Qin
Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology of Ministries of Education and Health, Basic Medical College and Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China.
Qian
Q
Wang
National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
Lei
L
Shi
Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology of Ministries of Education and Health, Basic Medical College and Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China.
Zhenxuan
Z
Ma
National Center for Protein Science Shanghai, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, China.
Jianchao
J
Tang
Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology of Ministries of Education and Health, Basic Medical College and Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China.|Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute, New York Blood Center, New York, New York 10065, USA.
Shibo
S
Jiang
Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology of Ministries of Education and Health, Basic Medical College and Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China.
Lu
L
Lu
National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
Sheng
S
Ye
National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.|National Center for Protein Science Shanghai, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, China.
Rongguang
R
Zhang
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