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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, December 2002, p. 4004-4008, Vol. 46, No. 12
0066-4804/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AAC.46.12.4004-4008.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Structure-Activity Relationship of a New Class of Anti-Hepatitis B Virus Agents
Anand Mehta,1* Bertha Conyers,1 D. L. J. Tyrrell,2 Kathie-Anne Walters,2 Graham A. Tipples,3 Raymond A. Dwek,4 and Timothy M. Block1
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, The Jefferson Center, Jefferson Medical College, Doylestown, Pennsylvania 18901-2697,1
Departments of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta,2
National Microbiology Laboratory, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada,3
Department of Biochemistry, Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom4
Received 19 February 2002/
Returned for modification 9 May 2002/
Accepted 27 August 2002

ABSTRACT
N-Nonyl-deoxy-galactonojirimycin (
N-nonyl-DGJ) has been shown
to reduce the amount of hepatitis B virus (HBV) produced by
tissue cultures under conditions where cell viability is not
affected. We show here that the compound
N-nonyl-DGJ was effective
against lamivudine-resistant HBV mutants bearing the YMDD motif
in the polymerase gene, consistent with the compound's activity
being distinct from those of nucleoside inhibitors. To better
understand the chemical structures that influence its antiviral
activity, a series of imino sugar derivatives were made and
tested for their antiviral activity against HBV. This work suggests
that the antiviral activity of the alkovirs requires an alkyl
chain length of at least eight carbons but that the galactose-based
head group can be modified with little or no loss in activity.

TEXT
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the prototypic member of the
Hepadnaviridae family of viruses that chronically infects more than 350 million
people worldwide (
6-
9,
17). The major complication is the development
of primary hepatocellular carcinoma, estimated to cause more
than 500,000 deaths annually (
1). Although there is no cure
for HBV infection, several therapeutic options now exist (
4,
9). However, the poor response rate and the development of resistant
mutants highlight the need for alternatives and complements
to the conventional therapeutic regimens (
10,
21; K.-A. Walters,
G. A. Tipples, M. I. Allen, L. D. Condreay, W. R. Addison, and
L. Tyrrell, submitted for publication).
In our work developing glucosidase inhibitors as potential mutation-resistant therapeutic agents for HBV and hepatitis C virus, we discovered an imino sugar, N-nonyl-deoxy-galactonojirimycin (N-nonyl-DGJ) (Fig. 1), that possesses potent antiviral activity against HBV in the absence of glucosidase inhibition (2-3, 5, 11-15). In studying this new class of compounds, we have discovered that their mechanism of action is fundamentally different than that of glucosidase inhibitors and may exert an antiviral action at a point before viral envelopment and perhaps prevent the proper encapsidation of the HBV pregenomic RNA (14).
The Food and Drug Administration-approved nucleoside analogue
lamivudine (3TC) has shown great promise in the treatment of
chronic infection with HBV but is severely hampered by the emergence
of resistant virus (
4,
9-
10,
21). Resistance to 3TC occurs as
a result of mutations in the tyrosine-methionine-aspartate-aspartate
(YMDD) motif of the HBV RNA-dependent DNA polymerase and may
emerge after 9 to 10 months of therapy, with an incidence of
>65% after 4 years of 3TC therapy (
10,
21). Treatments that
will work against 3TC-resistant (3TC-R) virus or inhibit the
virus by another mechanism will be essential in the effective
treatment of HBV (
20). To that end, the ability of
N-nonyl-DGJ
to inhibit the secretion of 3TC-R virus from a stable 3TC-R-virus-producing
cell line was determined by Southern blotting (
14,
22). The
virus expressed by the 3TC-R-HBV-producing cell line contained
both the valine-for-methionine mutation at residue 552 and the
methionine-for-leucine mutation at residue 528.
N-nonyl-DGJ
(alkovir) is a galactose-based imino sugar with a nine-carbon-length
alkyl side chain (Fig.
1) and does not inhibit the endoplasmic
reticulum (ER) glucosidases (
5,
14,
19). Hep G2-derived cells
that stably produce either wild-type (Hep G2 2.215) or 3TC-R
HBV (Walters et al., submitted) were incubated with either
N-nonyl-DGJ
or 3TC, and the amount of enveloped HBV in each culture medium
was determined by a method that differentiates between enveloped
and nonenveloped virus particles (
14,
22). Briefly, virus in
the culture medium was concentrated by pelleting it through
20% sucrose for 16 h (SW41 rotor, 36,000 rpm). Virus was resuspended
in a solution containing 200 µl of 10 mM Tris (pH 7.9),
10 mM EDTA (pH 8.0), and 10 mM MgCl
2. Proteinase K was added
to a final concentration of 750 µg/ml, and the samples
were incubated for 1 h at 37°C. After 1 h, RQ1 DNase (Promega,
Madison, Wis.) was added to each tube to a final concentration
of 50 U/ml, and the mixtures were incubated at 37°C for
1 h. Sodium dodecyl sulfate was added to a final concentration
of 1%, more proteinase K was added to a final concentration
of 500 µg/ml, and the reaction was allowed to proceed
at 37°C for 4 h. DNA was purified by phenol-chloroform extraction
followed by isopropanol precipitation. Viral DNA was separated
by electrophoresis on a 1.0% agarose gel, transferred to a nylon
membrane, and probed with
32P-labeled HBV probes (
14). HBV-specific
bands were subsequently identified and quantified by phosphorimage
analysis (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif.). All bands were within
the sensitivity of the machine, and no blots that had saturating
pixels were used for analysis. As the left panel of Fig.
2 shows,
both 3TC and
N-nonyl-DGJ possess the ability to reduce the amount
of HBV DNA in the culture medium from Hep G2 2.215 cells compared
to untreated controls. Since Hep G2 2.215 cells produce and
secrete HBV (
18) with a wild-type 3TC-sensitive polymerase gene
product, these results are not surprising. The right panel of
Fig.
2 shows that treatment of a cell line that produces the
3TC-R virus with 3TC does not result in reduced amounts of HBV
DNA detected in the culture medium (compare lanes 1 and 2 of
Fig.
2, right panel). In contrast,
N-nonyl-DGJ retains the ability
to reduce the amount of HBV DNA in the culture medium of cells
secreting 3TC-R virus. It should be noted that the 90% inhibitory
concentrations of
N-nonyl-DGJ against wild-type and 3TC-R virus
were similar (data not shown). Thus,
N-nonyl-DGJ retains effectiveness
against 3TC-R HBV under conditions where 3TC does not.
N-nonyl-DGJ can be divided into two functional groups: an imino
sugar head group and an alkyl tail (Fig.
1 and
3A). In the case
of the imino sugar glucosidase inhibitors, the head group plays
a critical role in antiviral activity (
5,
14,
19). To test the
role of the head group in the antiviral activity of the alkovirs
(the imino sugar compounds that do not inhibit the glucosidases
[Fig.
1]), we made several compounds in which the head group
was changed from a galactose to either a fucose (
N-nonyl-deoxyfuconojirimycin
[DFJ]), a mannose (
N-nonyl-deoxymannojirimycin [DMJ]), or a
galactose with a methyl group at position 6 (6-methyl-
N-nonyl-DGJ)
(
5). These compounds were tested in the Hep G2 2.215 cell system
as before, and the results are shown in Fig.
3B and C. As Fig.
3B shows, after a 7-day incubation of Hep G2 2.215 cells with
either
N-nonyl-DGJ or
N-nonyl-DFJ at a concentration of 20 µm,
reductions (

12-fold) in HBV secretion (compare lanes 2, 5, and
8) were observed. Analogues with an imino-mannose head group
also maintained antiviral activity (data not shown). In addition,
as Fig.
3C demonstrates, an imino sugar with a modification
of the galactose head group (conversion of the position 6 primary
alcohol to a methyl group) also inhibited virus secretion. This
highlights the fact that alkyl imino sugars with nonnatural
sugar head groups can exert antiviral activity. These data,
taken together, suggest that variations of the sugar head group
are allowed and to a large extent maintains antiviral activity.
It should be mentioned that while imino sugar derivatives with
mannose or fucose head groups can inhibit specific steps in
the N-linked glycosylation pathway, previous work has determined
that compounds that cause glycosylation changes in post-ER compartments
(Golgi bodies) have no antiviral activity (
11,
23).
Initial experiments to test the role of the tail group in the
activity of
N-nonyl-DGJ involved shorter tail variants to determine
if a critical length was required for antiviral efficacy. The
structures of these compounds are shown in Fig.
1, and the results
are shown in Fig.
4. As before, Hep G2 2.215 cells were either
left untreated or treated with the concentrations of 3TC,
N-nonyl-DGJ,
N-septyl-DGJ, or
N-octyl-DGJ indicated in the legend to Fig.
4. As Fig.
4A shows, decreasing the chain length to seven (
N-septyl-DGJ)
(lanes 4 and 5 of Fig.
4A) correlated with a loss of antiviral
activity, while
N-octyl-DGJ maintained a degree of efficacy
(Fig.
4B, lanes 6 and 7). N-alkylated derivatives of DGJ (or
deoxynojirimycin [DNJ]) that have an N-alkyl chain length of
greater than three carbon atoms act as inhibitors of glycolipid
biosynthesis (
16). Further evidence that glycolipid inhibition
has no effect on the replication and secretion of HBV was tested
by using
N-butyl-DGJ, a shorter alkylated derivative of
N-nonyl-DGJ.
Figure
4B shows the effect of shorter alkyl chains on HBV secretion
and the effect of modification of the alkyl chain on antiviral
efficacy. As before, Hep G2 2.215 cells were either left untreated
(Fig.
4B, lanes 1 and 2) or treated with the concentrations
of 3TC (Fig.
4B, lanes 3 and 4),
N-butyl-DGJ (Fig.
4B, lanes
5 and 6),
N-nonyl-DGJ (Fig.
4B, lanes 7 and 8), or
N-7-oxy-decyl-DGJ
(Fig.
4B, lanes 9 and 10) indicated in the legend to Fig.
4.
N-butyl-DGJ is an inhibitor of the ceramide-specific glucosyltransferase
that is involved in glycolipid biosynthesis (
16). Clearly, as
Fig.
4A shows,
N-butyl-DGJ, and hence glycolipid inhibition,
has no effect upon HBV secretion. Modification of the alkyl
chain by the introduction of an oxygen species into the N-alkyl
carbon chain at position 7 has been shown to improve toxicity
while maintaining efficacy against

-glucosidase for DNJ-based
imino sugars (
5,
19). However, for the alkovirs, the addition
of an oxygen species into a decyl tail destroys the antiviral
activity. This finding suggests that the nonyl-alkyl chain is
important for antiviral activity (Fig.
4B, group 5).
The present study has elucidated some critical structural features
of
N-nonyl-DGJ that influence its antiviral activity. The data
reported here are consistent with the following structural conclusions.
From the structural perspective, we have learned that the sugar
head group need not be galactonojirimycin for retention of antiviral
activity. Either fuconojirimycin or mannojirimycin can be substituted
for galactonojirimycin, with little reduction in antiviral activity
(Fig.
3). The alkyl side chain length appears to be critical,
with antiviral activity decreasing sharply with side chains
of fewer than eight carbons. Moreover, interruption of the side
chain with oxygenation also reduced activity. Taken together,
these data suggest that a minimum alkyl side chain length of
eight carbons and a sugar head group are core elements of the
alkovir antivirals.
We have also shown that N-nonyl-DGJ is effective against the 3TC-R HBV mutant. This suggests that the mechanism of antiviral action of N-nonyl-DGJ does not involve the polymerase catalytic domain and is consistent with a nonpolymerase target. In addition, this finding highlights the potential of this compound as a therapeutic agent (22).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported by the Hepatitis B Foundation of America,
an appropriation from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, NIH
grant number 1R41AI/DK49924-01, and Synergy Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. Anand Mehta is the Bruce Witte Research Scholar of the
Hepatitis B Foundation.
Nicole Zitzmann (Oxford University) is thanked for careful reading of the manuscript.

FOOTNOTES
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biochemistry, The Jefferson Center, Jefferson Medical College, 700 East Butler Ave., Doylestown, PA 18901. Phone: (215) 489-4905. Fax: (215) 489-4920. E-mail:
anand.mehta{at}mail.tju.edu.


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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, December 2002, p. 4004-4008, Vol. 46, No. 12
0066-4804/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AAC.46.12.4004-4008.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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