Arch. Pharm. Res. DOI 10.1007/s12272-017-0949-3

Online ISSN 1976-3786 Print ISSN 0253-6269

REVIEW

Chemical genetics-based development of small molecules targeting hepatitis C virus Guanghai Jin1 • Jisu Lee1 • Kyeong Lee1

Received: 19 May 2017 / Accepted: 20 August 2017 Ó The Pharmaceutical Society of Korea 2017

Abstract Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major worldwide problem that has emerged as one of the most significant diseases affecting humans. There are currently no vaccines or efficient therapies without side effects, despite today’s advanced medical technology. Currently, the common therapy for most patients (i.e. genotype 1) is combination of HCV-specific direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). Up to 2011, the standard of care (SOC) was a combination of peg-IFNa with ribavirin (RBV). After approval of NS3/4A protease inhibitor, SOC was peg-IFNa and RBV with either the first-generation DAAs boceprevir or telaprevir. In the past several years, various novel small molecules have been discovered and some of them (i.e., HCV polymerase, protease, helicase and entry inhibitors) have undergone clinical trials. Between 2013 and 2016, the second-generation DAA drugs simeprevir, asunaprevir, daclatasvir, dasabuvir, sofosbuvir, and elbasvir were approved, as well as the combinational drugs HarvoniÒ, ZepatierÒ, TechnivieÒ, and EpclusaÒ. A number of reviews have been recently published describing the structure–activity relationship (SAR) in the development of HCV inhibitors and outlining current therapeutic approaches to hepatitis C infection. Target identification involves studying a drug’s mechanism of action (MOA), and a variety of target identification methods have been developed in the past few years. Chemical biology has emerged as a powerful tool for studying biological processes using small molecules. The use of chemical genetic methods is a valuable strategy for studying the molecular mechanisms & Kyeong Lee [email protected] 1

College of Pharmacy, Dongguk University-Seoul, Goyang 10326, Republic of Korea

of the viral lifecycle and screening for anti-viral agents. Two general screening approaches have been employed: forward and reverse chemical genetics. This review reveals information on the small molecules in HCV drug discovery by using chemical genetics for targeting the HCV protein and describes successful examples of targets identified with these methods. Keywords Hepatitis C virus  Chemical genetics  Drug discovery

Introduction Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a considerable health problem of global proportions and a causative pathogen of chronic hepatitis C, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Approximately 200 million people are estimated to be infected worldwide, and the rate of new infection has been estimated at 3–4 million each year (Patil et al. 2011). HCV was recognized in the early 1970s as non-A, non-B hepatitis, and in 1989, it was finally identified as a cDNA clone isolated from the non-A, non-B viral hepatitis genome (Choo et al. 1989). It is a member of the Flaviviridae family, and it has a positive-stranded RNA genome approximately 9.6 kilo bases (kb) in length. It encodes a single long polyprotein that is processed into 10 individual proteins: core, envelope (E)1, E2, p7, nonstructural protein (NS)2, NS3, NS4A, NS4B, NS5A and NS5B (Hijikata et al. 1991) (Fig. 1a). NS5B is an RNAdependent RNA polymerase, that plays a central role in viral genome replication (Bartenschlager and Lohmann 2001) (Fig. 1b). HCV has superseded HIV as the leading cause of mortality due to an infectious agent in the US (Lavanchy

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Fig. 1 a Hepatitis C virus (HCV) genome organization. b HCV replication lifecycle. Key steps in the lifecycle of HCV include entry into the host cell, uncoating of the viral genome, translation of viral proteins, viral genome replication, and the assembly and release of virions

2009). Currently, there is no HCV vaccine available. HCV can be subdivided into seven genotypes based on its genome sequence, some with subtypes (Nakano et al. 2012). Each genotype has its own geographic distribution, and they are not equally responsive to current therapy. The

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main genotype in the US, genotype 1b, is one of the most difficult to treat with current therapy. Up to 2011, the standard of care (SOC) for HCV-infected patients relied on combination therapy with pegylated-interferon alpha (peg-IFNa) and ribavirin (RBV)

Chemical genetics-based development of small molecules targeting hepatitis C virus

administered for 24 weeks (HCV genotypes 2 and 3) or 48 weeks (HCV genotypes 1, 4, 5, and 6) (Tan et al. 2002; Ghany et al. 2011). The effectiveness of peg-IFNa/RBV is dramatically reduced for patients infected with genotype 1, and it achieves a sustained virological response (SVR) in nearly 80% of patients with HCV genotypes 2 or 3 but less than 50% of those with HCV genotype 1 (Pawlotsky et al. 2007). Moreover, this treatment is associated with serious, and sometimes life-threatening, side-effects, such as depression, fatigue, flu-like symptoms, and hemolytic anemia, which force many patients to discontinue treatment (Ghany et al. 2009; Koch and Narjes 2007). Then the first generation of HCV-specific direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) were developed and given in combination with peg-IFNa/RBV up to 2013. For example, two smallmolecule inhibitors of the HCV-encoded protease NS3/4A, boceprevir (VictrelisÒ) (Venkatraman 2012) and telaprevir (IncivekÒ) (Kwong et al. 2011) (Fig. 2), were approved in 2011. Due to the significant side effects of the interferonbased regimen, new generations of DAAs were approved from 2013 to use in an interferon-free therapy. In recent years, several small-molecule inhibitors that target specific viral non-structural proteins that exert HCV replication-related functions, including NS3/4A protease/ helicase, NS4B, NS5A, and NS5B RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) have been in various stages of clinical development. Between 2013 and 2016, the NS3/4A protease inhibitor simeprevir (OlysioÒ) (Rosenquist et al. 2014), asunaprevir (SunvepraÒ) (Scola et al. 2014), grazoprevir (GrazynaÒ) (Harper et al. 2012) and vaniprevir (VanihepÒ) (McCauley et al. 2010), the NS5A inhibitor daclatasvir (DaklinzaÒ) (Belema et al. 2014; Belema and Meanwell 2014), ledipasvir (Link et al. 2014) and elbasvir (ErelsaÒ) (Coburn et al. 2013), the NS5B nucleotide polymerase inhibitor sofosbuvir (SovaldiÒ) (Sofia et al. 2010; Lam et al. 2012; Keating and Vaidya 2014) and dasabuvir (ExvieraÒ) (Trivella et al. 2015) were approved (Fig. 2; Table 1). Since 2014, both interferon and RBVfree combinational therapy are administered to most patients (i.e. genotype 1). Gilead’s HarvoniÒ (sofosbuvir/ ledipasvir), the most costly HCV drug in the world, was used to treat Japanese patients with chronic genotype 1 HCV infection without RBV for 12 weeks (Mizokami et al. 2015), and it was approved in the US and the EU in 2014 and in Japan in 2015 (Keating 2015). In addition, it is used in combination with RBV in patients with chronic HCV genotype 1 or 4 infection who had decompensated cirrhosis or were liver transplant recipients and in patients with chronic HCV genotype 3 infection (Keating 2015). A fixed-dose combination tablet of the HCV NS5A inhibitor elbasvir and the HCV NS3/4A protease inhibitor grazoprevir (elbasvir/grazoprevir; ZepatierTM) developed by Merck was approved by the FDA for chronic HCV

genotype 1 or 4 infection in 2016 (Keating 2016a, b, c). The FDA approved a new HCV drug in 2015, the HCV NS5A inhibitor ombitasvir (DeGoey et al. 2014; Stirnimann 2014), and the NS3/4A inhibitor paritaprevir and the HIV-1 protease inhibitor ritonavir (ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ ritonavir; TechnivieÒ) are available for use, in combination with RBV, for the treatment of HCV genotype 4 infection in high SVR12 (Keating 2016a, b, c). TechnivieÒ taken in combination with dasabuvir was first indicated for the treatment of HCV genotype 1 infection in the US and the EU in 2015 (ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir/dasabuvir; Viekira PakTM), and both drugs were developed by AbbVie (Deeks 2016). The combination of the NS5A inhibitor sofosbuvir and velpatasvir (developed by Gilead) was approved by the FDA in 2016 (Belema et al. 2014; Greig 2016; Lee et al. 2016; Mir et al. 2017). Another Gilead’s combination drug, EpclusaÒ (sofosbuvir/velpatasvir) is a once daily pangenotypic DAA combination tablet that safely and effectively treats all six major HCV genotypes. Additionally, several reviews on HCV drug development and treatment in clinical trials have been published (Francesco and Carfi 2007; Kwong et al. 2008; Rehman et al. 2011; Chatel-Chaix et al. 2012; Schaefer and Chung 2012).

Chemical genetics Chemical biology has emerged as a powerful tool for studying biological processes using small organic molecules (O’ Connor et al. 2011; Schreiber 2000). In chemical biology for drug discovery, chemical genetics can be divided into two approaches: forward chemical genetics (Chang 2008) and reverse chemical genetics (Neumann et al. 2003) (Fig. 3). These techniques were proposed and developed by scientists during the late 1990s. Forward chemical genetics use small molecules to modulate gene product function and the phenotypic screening of chemical libraries to identify drug targets, otherwise known as target identification (Ares et al. 2013). On the other hand, reverse chemical genetics is a hypothesis-based approach in which genes or proteins are manipulated to characterize their role via identifying the resulting phenotype (Kawasumi and Nghiem 2007). Thus, the direction of forward chemical genetics is from phenotype to genotype, while reverse chemical genetics works from genotype to phenotype (Spring 2005). Chemical compounds may specifically activate or inhibit one or more target proteins using chemical genetics (Chang et al. 2008; Spring 2005). Chemical genetics approaches can be useful to analyze of the regulatory mechanisms of viral lifecycles including not only the virus itself but also various cellular factors (Watashi and Shimotohno 2007). Target identification is

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Fig. 2 Structures of approved HCV current DAAs

one of the most important challenges in the forward chemical genetics used in various types of research (e.g., modulation of protein–protein interaction, malaria research, HCV research, and disruption of RNA interference pathways) (O’ Connor et al. 2011). Recently, the HCV NS5A inhibitor daclatasvir was discovered using chemical genetics approaches (Gao et al. 2010; Lee 2011). In addition, chemical genetics analysis identified cyclophilin (CyP) B as a cellular cofactor of HCV genome replication and a target for novel anti-HCV agents (Watashi and Shimotohno 2007). Our research group also used a chemical library and chemical genetics-based screening to identify the HCV NS5B polymerase inhibitor (Jin et al. 2014). There are many research areas in addition to HCV research using the chemical genetics approach for drug discovery. The discovery of the novel hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-1a inhibitor LW6 has been reviewed (Naik

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et al. 2015). In addition, IjB kinase b (IKKb) inhibitors, microbial natural products, biosynthetic microbial natural products, heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitors, and existing drugs targeting cancer stem cells have been introduced (Lee et al. 2015; Choi and Oh 2015; Kim et al. 2015; Seo 2015; Lv and Shim 2015). A number of approaches toward new target discovery and the validation of bioactive small molecules for drug discovery has been reviewed (Zhu et al. 2015; Tashiro and Imoto 2015; Zheng et al. 2015; Macalino et al. 2015; Jung and Kwon 2015). Moreover, the study of next-generation antimicrobials using a chemical biology approach has been reviewed (Ang et al. 2015), and the recent application of mass spectrometry based drug imaging for the validation of small molecule and target interaction in tissue has been introduced (Kwon et al. 2015). This review summarizes current drug discovery and development by using the chemical genetics strategy for the identification of small molecules for targeting HCV.

Chemical genetics-based development of small molecules targeting hepatitis C virus Table 1 HCV NS5A inhibitor in clinical development BMS-790052-like molecules

Structure

Company

Phase

Daclatasvir (BMS-790052)

Bristol-Myers Squibb

Approved (DaklinzaÒ)

Ledipasvir (GS-5885)

Gilead

III

Elbasvir (MK-8742)

Merk

Approved (ErelsaÒ)

Ombitasvir (ABT-267)

AbbVie

II

Samatasvir (IDX-719)

Idenix

II (Stop)

Velpatasvir (GS-5816)

Gilead

I

GSK-805

GSK

II

Ruzasvir (MK-8408)

Merck

II

Odalasvir (ACH-3102)

Achillion

II

Archived at www.pharmacodia.com

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G. Jin et al. Fig. 3 Chemical genetics approach

NS3 helicase inhibitor NS3 is a multi-functional enzyme with an amino-terminal serine protease domain and a carboxy-terminal RNA helicase/NTPase domain. The activity of NS3 helicase can be regulated by interactions between the serine protease and helicase domains of NS3, indicating that these two enzyme activities may be somehow coordinated during replication. Helicase is required for both genome replication and virus assembly. NS4A is a co-factor of the NS3 protease forming a stable heterodimeric NS3/4A complex. Several reviews have indicated the HCV NS3 antiviral target (Salam and Akimitsu 2013, Buhler and Bartenschlager 2012, Raney et al. 2010). LaPlante and colleagues from Boehringer Ingelheim used reverse chemical genetics approach for identifying fragment inhibitors against HCV NS3 helicase. They started by evaluating the druggability of this protein and then decided to focus their effort on the conserved site near amino acid residue W501. With no suitable compound identified from high-throughput screening (HTS), they transitioned to a fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) campaign and screened nine series of compounds. Instead of them, an indole series provided potent and attractive leads based on encouraging SAR trends, stoichiometry of binding, mechanism of inhibition, and favorable solution property behavior. These results suggest that this essential antiviral target may be druggable (LaPlante et al. 2014). Li and colleagues from the United States screened 827 compounds using a molecular beacon-based helicase assay (MBHA) with a DNA substrate. The majority of the compounds appeared to inhibit HCV helicase and quench the fluorescence of the MBHA substrate. Twelve hits were designed to independently identify compounds that exhibited DNA-binding properties using a modified fluorescent intercalator displacement (FID) assay. During the study, four compounds decreased the fluorescence of DNA-bound ethidium bromide less than 8%. A screen for HCV NS3 helicase inhibitors revealed that the commercial dye thioflavine S was the most potent inhibitor of NS3-catalyzed

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DNA and RNA unwinding. Thioflavine S and the related dye primuline were separated here into their pure components, all of which were oligomers of substituted benzothiazoles. The most potent benzothiazole compound inhibited unwinding [50% at 2 ± 1 lM, inhibited the subgenomic HCV replicon at 10 lM, and was not toxic at 100 lM. Some of the analogs inhibited HCV helicase but did not appear to interact with DNA. The most potent of these specific helicase inhibitors inhibited helicase more than 50% at 2.6 ± 1 lM (Li et al. 2012).

NS5A inhibitor HCV NS5A is a zinc-binding phosphoprotein with 447 amino acids essential for HCV RNA replication. It plays an important role in the regulation of cellular pathways, membrane localization, transcriptional activation, and assembly of the replication complex (Wang et al. 2005). NS5A functions are largely unknown; it does not possess any enzymatic activity, but it is likely a key regulator of viral genome replication and virion assembly. NS5A has been considered a potential drug target for antiviral therapeutic intervention (Belda and Targett-Adams 2012). Small molecular drugs effectively targeting NS5A revealed much higher potency than other drugs in HCV infection (Belda and Targett-Adams 2012). Therefore, NS5A could have important implications in small molecular drug design and pegIFN-free DAA combination therapies (Belda and Targett-Adams 2012). Daclatasvir is a drug for the treatment of HCV sold under the trade name DaklinzaÒ. It was developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) for targeting the HCV NS5A protein and was approved in Europe in 2014 and in the United States and India in 2015 (Keating 2016a, b, c). It was initially discovered by forward chemical genetics (Gao et al. 2010). Following HTS, Lemm and Gao screened over 1 million compounds, from the BMS collection, for the selective inhibition of HCV replication using a cell-based replicon system (Lemm et al. 2010). The HCV replication

Chemical genetics-based development of small molecules targeting hepatitis C virus

assay utilized human liver cells (Huh-7) transfected with an HCV replicon, an autonomously replicating HCV subgenomic RNA molecule encoding HCV NS3 through NS5B (Lohmann et al. 1999). They identified a number of compounds with a thiazolidinedione core as HCV replication inhibitors. Among them, BMS-824 (Fig. 4) resulted in a 50% inhibition of HCV replicon replication of *5 nM, with a therapeutic index of more than 10,000 in the genotype 1b replicon (Lemm et al. 2010). BMS-824 differs from the iminothiazolidinone BMS-858 (Fig. 4) only in that the benzyl carbamate element is replaced by a phenylacetamide moiety that is 1 atom shorter. BMS-858 emerged as a weak but, more importantly, a specific inhibitor of HCV RNA replication (EC50 = 0.57 lM, CC50 = [50 lM) for which resistance was mapped to a tyrosine to histidine substitution at residue 93 in the NS5A protein (Lemm et al. 2010). Based on an analysis of the structure–activity relationship (SAR), the stilbene derivative BMS-665 (Fig. 4) was synthesized (Lemm et al. 2010), while the potency of the BMS-665 was similar to that of the BMS-824 for HCV genotype 1b. To identify a stable complex, they designed more potent inhibitors culminating in the identification of the symmetrical homodimeric biphenyl-based molecule BMS790052, which was later renamed Daclatasvir (Gao et al. 2010). In a demonstration of NS5A as a possible drug target, BMS-790052 was used to select for resistance on genotype 1a and 1b replicons (Gao et al. 2010). BMS790052 revealed EC50 values of 9 and 50 pM against HCV genotype 1a and 1b replicons, respectively (Gao et al. 2010). In addition, BMS-790052 displayed a therapeutic index (CC50/EC50) of at least 100,000 in vitro (Gao et al.

2010). They also performed pull-down experiments with a biotin–tagged derivative (Fig. 4) providing further evidence that NS5A is indeed the target of BMS-790052. No binding to NS3 or NS5B was observed suggesting selective binding to NS5A (O’ Connor et al. 2011). Subsequently, BMS-790052-like inhibitors have been developed by other pharmaceutical companies (Table 1). These molecules are more potent than current licensed HCV protease inhibitors in cell culture-based HCV replicon assays (Gao et al. 2010).

NS5B RdRp inhibitor The HCV NS5B RdRp target rapidly attracted considerable attention from drug designers. The 65-kDa protein, located at the C-terminal of the HCV-translated polyprotein, plays a central role in the replication of the HCV RNA genome. Thus, the NS5B polymerase is a key enzyme for HCV replication with RdRp function among the NS proteins. Several researchers have conducted reviews on HCV replication inhibitors targeting NS5B (Zhao et al. 2015; Das et al. 2011; Mayhoub 2012; Patil et al. 2011; Haudecoeur et al. 2013). Here, we only present the results of our research group using the chemical-genetics based approach to discover novel HCV NS5B polymerase inhibitors. Our aim was to identify a new chemical scaffold that is a suitable template for obtaining anti-HCV agents targeting HCV replication via a mechanistically unbiased chemical genetics approach. Thus, in 2014, our research group screened *6000 in-house library compounds with various chemical structures using the Renilla luciferase-linked

Fig. 4 Structures of BMS-identified NS5A inhibitors

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genotype 2a J6/JFH1 reporter virus and identified a series of compounds containing an indole moiety that were active in HCV replication (Jin et al. 2014). Huh 7.5 hepatocarcinoma cells, which were transfected with Renilla luciferase-linked J6/JFH1 RNAs, were used for library screening. By using an MTT-based cell viability assay, we identified compound 1 (Fig. 5), an indole acrylamide that consistently produced the highest ratio (28.6) of cell viability (60.1%) to HCV replication (2.1%) at a concentration of 10 lM compared to DMSO. We choose hit compound 1 following the SAR study. Based on one lead compound 2, we synthesized a series of derivatives and found one 5-cyano indole analogue 3 (Fig. 5) having significantly enhanced inhibitory activity against HCV among the series with a half-maximal effective concentration of 1.1 lM (CC50 = 61.8 lM, SI = 56.9). To rule out any artificial effects of an inserted Renilla luciferase on HCV replication, we tested the effect of compound 3 on a reporter-free genotype 2a infectious clone system (J6/JFH1), and the EC50 value (1.9 lM) was observed in this system. If compound 3 had any cross-genotype antiviral potency, we also used a Bar79I subgenomic replicon system in which genotype 1b HCV RNAs encoding only non-structural parts of viral genes were stably replicating under the selection pressure of G418 due to the expression of a neomycin phosphotransferase gene inserted in front of the HCV genes. In this system, compound 3 showed a 3.2-fold higher potency against HCV replication activity (EC50 = 0.6 lM) than the genotype 2a infectious clone system (EC50 = 1.9 lM). In order to determine the

Fig. 5 Structures of indole derivatives

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mechanism of action (MOA) of compound 3 and whether compound 3 might interact with HCV viral non-structural proteins, we selected compound 3-resistant mutant viruses. The NS5B-encoding region in the resistant colonies identified several mutations, while no mutations were observed. A genetic mapping study of mutant viruses resistant to potent compound 3 revealed that NS5B RNA polymerase was the potential target (Jin et al. 2014).

NS4B inhibitor NS4B is a 27-kDa membrane protein that plays an essential role in HCV RNA replication. Compared to other nonstructural proteins, the NS4B inhibitors have been less well studied until recently. NS4B specifically recognizes and binds to the 30 terminus of the negative viral strand, and the RNA binding function is blocked by clemizole. This compound was the first reported NS4B inhibitor, and it is highly synergistic with HCV protease inhibitors in vitro (Einav et al. 2010). Interestingly, it was discovered that clemizole inhibits HCV NS4B protein by using the reverse chemical approach. Einav et al.’s research group from Stanford University used in vitro protein expression and a high-throughput microfluidic screen of a small-molecule library to find that it could inhibit the RNA NS4B protein (Einav et al. 2008). The researchers hypothesized that HCV NS4B binds to RNA. By using mechanical trapping of molecular interactions (MITOMI) (Maerkl and Quake 2007), a

Chemical genetics-based development of small molecules targeting hepatitis C virus

microfluidic affinity assay confirmed RNA interaction with NS4B. MITOMI can be used to measure both the binding constants of membrane protein–RNA interactions and the inhibition of such interactions by small molecules in a high-throughput screen. They screened 1280 compounds from a small-molecule library and identified that they could inhibit the RNA-NS4B interaction, and 104 were found to have an inhibitory effect on RNA binding by NS4B. After the secondary screen, 18 compounds were confirmed to substantially inhibit RNA binding by NS4B. Through the reverse chemical genetic approach, they measured the inhibitory effect on HCV RNA replication of the compounds identified in cell culture. By using an Alamar Bluebased assay, six of the compounds showed some antiviral effect. Among them, clemizole hydrochloride was found to substantially inhibit HCV replication. Clemizole is an H1 histamine receptor antagonist that was introduced to the US market in the late 1950s as Reactrol/Allercur (Einav et al. 2008). Clemizole was shown to inhibit RNA binding with NS4B and against the infectious virus of genotype-2a (IC50 = 24 nM, EC50 = 8 lM), and it had no measurable cellular toxicity (Einav et al. 2008). Interestingly, clemizole might not be active against genotype-1 viruses (EC50 [ 20 lM) (Einav et al. 2008). According to these results, a clemizole-related molecule series could improve in vitro potency for HCV inhibition (Rai and Deval 2011). A series of compounds with various chemotypes has been reported to target NS4B (Shotwell et al. 2012; Zhang et al. 2013; Tai et al. 2014; Miller et al. 2014; Zhang et al. 2014; Kakarla et al. 2014; Phillips et al. 2014; Wang et al. 2015). All of these inhibitors (Table 2) had key resistant mutants that were similar to anguizole, specifically H94N/R and V105L/M (GT 1b) (Bryson et al. 2010). In addition, one review summarized recent HCV NS4B inhibitors in drug development (Cannalire et al. 2016).

Entry inhibitor Blocking HCV entry to the host cell is another way to prevent infection. The basic structure of the virion is surrounded by a host-derived lipid bi-layer envelope containing two transmembrane glycoproteins, E1 and E2, that function to mediate virus binding and entry into host cells (Wong-Staal et al. 2010). The current model for the pathway of entry includes the docking of the virus onto the cell surface through interactions with the virion envelope and cell surface lipoprotein receptors followed by other hepatocyte membrane proteins: Scavenger Receptor Class B type 1 (SR-BI), CD81, Claudin 1 (CLDN1), and Occludin (OCLN) (Wong-Staal et al. 2010). The use of blockers of these interaction, suggests that the inhibition of any one step in the entry pathway can inhibit infection (Wong-Staal

et al. 2010). There are several reviews summarized the HCV entry inhibitor in drug development (Wong-Staal et al. 2010; Qian et al. 2016). ITX-5061, a small molecule now in clinical trial Phase II, targets SR-BI and has shown potent antiviral activity. It was initially developed as a p38 MAP kinase inhibitor for inflammatory disease. During studies, it was shown to act on SR-BI. Because of the known role of SR-BI in HCV entry, iTherX tested ITX-5061 in an HCV entry assay and showed it was 500-fold more potent in inhibiting HCV entry than p38 MAP kinase activity, with a subnanomolar EC50 value. The screening of small-molecule inhibitors of virus entry has been facilitated by the development of HCV pseudovirus systems. ITX-4520 was identified at iTherX using an HCV pseudoparticle (HCVpp) assay. It showed efficacious inhibition of HCV cell culture (HCVcc) infection and a desirable therapeutic index. ITX-4520 is structurally unrelated to ITX-5061, but it appears to also target SR-BI (Wong-Staal et al. 2010). To discover HCV entry inhibitors, one research group from BMS utilized HCVpp incorporating E1-E2 envelope proteins from a genotype 1b clinical isolate. HTS of a small-molecule library of over 1 million compounds identified a potent HCV-specific triazine inhibitor, EI-1. A series of HCVpp with E1-E2 sequences from various HCV isolates was used to show activity against all genotypes 1a and 1b HCVpp tested, with median EC50 values of 0.134 and 0.027 lM, respectively (Baldick et al. 2010). Interestingly, a Chinese academic research group using the forward chemical genetics approach identified a similar chemical structure of compound 3 (Fig. 5). Hit compound 4 containing an N-protected indole scaffold (NINS) was identified to have inhibitory activity in infectious HCVcc through the screening of an in-house library of *3000 compounds. Through SAR study, it was observed that the racemic inhibitor 5 displayed good anti-HCV activity (EC50 = 1.02 ± 0.10 lM) with an excellent selectivity index (SI = 45.56). R-enantiomer showed better anti-HCV activity and lower cytotoxicity than S-enantiomer. The R-form compound gave the best potency (EC50 = 0.72 ± 0.09 lM) with the highest selectivity index (SI [ 69.44). A MOA study of NINS derivatives demonstrated that NINS derivatives interfere with the early step of the HCV lifecycle by using a time-addition assay (Han et al. 2016).

Cyclophilin inhibitor Through the forward chemical genetics approach, Watashi et al. found that an immunosuppressant cyclosporin A (CsA) possesses anti- HCV activity (Watashi et al. 2003). By using an HCV replicon system, of the many compounds

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G. Jin et al. Table 2 HCV replicon activity of recent NS4B inhibitors EC50 (GT = genotype)

References

Clemizole

[20 lM (GT 2a)

Rai and Deval (2011)

Imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine

7.4 nM (GT 1a)

Shotwell et al. (2012)

Clemizole-related molecules

Structure

18 nM (GT 1b)

Imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine

0.81 nM (GT 1a)

Shotwell et al. (2012)

5.4 nM (GT 1b)

6-(Indol-2-yl)pyridine-3-sulfonamide

4 nM (GT 1b)

Zhang et al. (2013)

Spirocyclic piperidine analog

1.5 nM (GT 1a)

Tai et al. (2014)

1.2 nM (GT 1b)

Spirocyclic piperidine analog

10.9 nM (GT 1a)

Tai et al. (2014)

6.1 nM (GT 1b)

Spirocyclic piperidine analog

0.6 nM (GT 1a)

Miller et al. (2014)

0.3 nM (GT 1b)

PTC725

2 nM (GT 1b)

Zhang et al. (2014)

Piperazinone derivative

22 nM (GT 1a) 6 nM (GT 1b)

Kakarla et al. (2014)

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Chemical genetics-based development of small molecules targeting hepatitis C virus Table 2 continued Clemizole-related molecules

Structure

Piperazinone derivative

EC50 (GT = genotype)

References

16 nM (GT 1a)

Kakarla et al. (2014)

70 nM (GT 1b)

Anguizole

560 nM (GT 1a)

Bryson et al. (2010)

310 nM (GT 1b)

2-Oxadiazoloquinoline scaffold

0.09 nM (GT 1b)

Phillips et al. (2014)

Imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole

16 nM (GT 1b)

Wang et al. (2015)

tested, CsA reduced the expression of HCV-encoded proteins to undetectable levels without affecting cellular protein expression (Watashi et al. 2003). Cyclophilins (CyPs) are a family of highly conserved cellular peptidyl-prolyl cis–trans isomerases (PPIase) and a protein family consisting of at least 15 subtypes in mammals. Shimotohno’s research group used CsA as a bio-probe to discover that CsA interacts with a member of the cyclophilin family of proteins, CyPB, thus suppressing viral genome replication (Watashi et al. 2005). RNAi analysis showed that the downregulation of CyPB decreased HCV genome replication (Watashi et al. 2005). Therefore, CyPB specifically regulates HCV genome replication. A GST pull-down assay showed that recombinant CyPB interacts with NS5B but not NS3, NS4B, or NS5A proteins (Watashi et al. 2005). CyPB and NS5B form a complex with HCV RNA cells, and CyPB regulates the RNA binding activity of NS5B. Through this interaction, the RNA binding activity of NS5B is increased. CsA can disrupt the CyPB–NS5B interaction. Targeting CyPA for cancer therapeutics also important because CyPA overexpression is often found in many different cancer types and CyPA appears to be involved in malignant transformation in some cancer types (Lee 2013). CyPA inhibitors show HCV antiviral activity depending on the expression of CyPA (Tang 2010). The CyPA inhibitors are advantageous because host targeting can provide a higher barrier to resistance than viral inhibitors. Both CyPA and CyPB are important host factors for the HCV

replication process, since the interactions of both CyPA with NS5A and CyPB with HCV NS5B contribute to the formation of a multi-protein complex (Fernandes et al. 2007). The CsA derivative, NIM-811, which has MeLeu at position 4, is replaced by MeIle (Fig. 6). The suppressive effect of NIM-811 on HCV genome replication was shown to be greater than that of CsA (Goto et al. 2006), but unfortunately, NIM-811 was discontinued in Phase II of the clinical trial. There are other CsA derivatives, such as Alisporivir (Deibo-025) and SCY-635 (Crabbe et al. 2009; Flisiak et al. 2007) (Fig. 6). Alisporivir has shown great promise in Phase II clinical trials in combination with peg-IFNa/RBV (Flisiak et al. 2008). Now, SCY-635 is also in Phase II. Cho et al.’s research group from Chonnam National University used the reverse chemical genetics approach to discover novel CyPA inhibitors (Yang et al. 2015), and the conserved amino acid residues making up the active site for the PPIase domain of CyPA were identified. In order to attain a high specificity for CyPA to target this region, they screened over 200,000 compounds for their binding affinity for the ligand-binding domain (LBD) of the CsA-CyPA complex to discover potential inhibitors of CyPA PPIase activity. Hit compound 6 (Fig. 6) showed a high score by applying Surflex-Dock. The computational binding mode of compound 6 with CyPA showed that the two amides and ring B of the bis-amide interact with the amino acid residues Arg55, Trp121, and Lys125 of CyPA through H-bonds (Yang et al. 2015). Various novel analogs of bis-

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Fig. 6 Structures of CyP inhibitors

amide 6 were prepared by the Ugi condensation reaction. During SAR study, the lead compound 7 (Fig. 6) showed strong interactions with the following amino acid residues: Arg55, Trp121, and Lys125 of CyPA. Compound 7 is a selective, non-immunosuppressive, and potent CyPA inhibitor with a higher binding affinity, higher CyPA specificity, and stronger anti-PPIase activity than CsA, and it effectively reduces HCV replication without acute toxicity in vitro and in vivo through the direct inhibition of viral proteins (Yang et al. 2015). This report was the first to indicate the bis-amides as enzymatically active and site-

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directed inhibitors of CyPA. Compound 7 may be a promising host-targeted anti-HCV agent in the next generation of combinatorial HCV treatments.

Conclusion As discussed above, the chemical genetics approach has become increasingly popular in drug discovery. The chemical genetics approach has been efficiently used, and it has contributed to great advances in drug screening

Chemical genetics-based development of small molecules targeting hepatitis C virus

methods and a dramatic increase in target identification strategies. This review illustrated examples of identifying HCV drug targets with various chemical genetics approaches. For HCV drug discovery, chemical genetics can be used to identify their molecular targets, identify new functions of cellular proteins, and provide information to elucidate the viral replication mechanisms and facilitate discovery of novel hits and leads. Acknowledgements This work was supported by the Dongguk University Research Fund of 2016.

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