Document Type
Article
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Pathogens
Volume
14
Issue
12
Publisher
PLoS
Publication Date
12-21-2018
First Page
1
Last Page
15
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Abstract
Arenaviruses are a significant cause of hemorrhagic fever, an often-fatal disease for which there is no approved antiviral therapy. Lassa fever in particular generates high morbidity and mortality in West Africa, where the disease is endemic, and a recent outbreak in Nigeria was larger and more geographically diverse than usual. We are developing LHF-535, a small-molecule viral entry inhibitor that targets the arenavirus envelope glycoprotein, as a therapeutic candidate for Lassa fever and other hemorrhagic fevers of arenavirus origin. Using a lentiviral pseudotype infectivity assay, we determined that LHF-535 had sub-nanomolar potency against the viral envelope glycoproteins from all Lassa virus lineages, with the exception of the glycoprotein from the LP strain from lineage I, which was 100-fold less sensitive than that of other strains. This reduced sensitivity was mediated by a unique amino acid substitution, V434I, in the transmembrane domain of the envelope glycoprotein GP2 subunit. This position corresponds to the attenuation determinant of Candid#1, a live-attenuated Junı´n virus vaccine strain used to prevent Argentine hemorrhagic fever. Using a virusyield reduction assay, we determined that LHF-535 potently inhibited Junı´n virus, but not Candid#1, and the Candid#1 attenuation determinant, F427I, regulated this difference in sensitivity. We also demonstrated that a daily oral dose of LHF-535 at 10 mg/kg protected mice from a lethal dose of Tacaribe virus. Serial passage of Tacaribe virus in LHF-535- treated Vero cells yielded viruses that were resistant to LHF-535, and the majority of drugresistant viruses exhibited attenuated pathogenesis. These findings provide a framework for the clinical development of LHF-535 as a broad-spectrum inhibitor of arenavirus entry and provide an important context for monitoring the emergence of drug-resistant viruses.
Recommended Citation
Madu IG, Files M, Gharaibeh DN, Moore AL, Jung K-H, Gowen BB, et al. (2018) A potent Lassa virus antiviral targets an arenavirus virulence determinant. PLoS Pathog 14(12): e1007439. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1007439
