Dataset Information

Mechanism of drug inhibition and drug resistance of influenza A M2 channel.

ABSTRACT: The influenza A virus M2 proton channel equilibrates pH across the viral membrane during entry and across the trans-Golgi membrane of infected cells during viral maturation. It is an important target of adamantane-family antiviral drugs, but drug resistance has become a critical problem. Two different sites for drug interaction have been proposed. One is a lipid-facing pocket between 2 adjacent transmembrane helices (around Asp-44), at which the drug binds and inhibits proton conductance allosterically. The other is inside the pore (around Ser-31), at which the drug directly blocks proton passage. Here, we describe structural and functional experiments on the mechanism of drug inhibition and resistance. The solution structure of the S31N drug-resistant mutant of M2, a mutant of the highly pathogenic avian influenza subtype H5N1, shows that replacing Ser-31 with Asn has little effect on the structure of the channel pore, but dramatically reduces drug binding to the allosteric site. Mutagenesis and liposomal proton flux assays show that replacing the key residue (Asp-44) in the lipid-facing binding pocket with Ala has a dramatic effect on drug sensitivity, but that the channel remains fully drug sensitive when replacing Ser-31 with Ala. Chemical cross-linking studies indicate an inverse correlation between channel stability and drug resistance. The lipid-facing pocket contains residues from 2 adjacent channel-forming helices. Therefore, it is present only when the helices are tightly packed in the closed conformation. Thus, drug-resistant mutants impair drug binding by destabilizing helix-helix assembly.

SUBMITTER: Pielak RM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2678642 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:The Food and Drug Administration-approved influenza A antiviral amantadine inhibits the wild-type (WT) AM2 channel but not the S31N mutant predominantly found in circulating strains. In this study, serial viral passages were applied to select resistance against a newly developed isoxazole-conjugated adamantane inhibitor that targets the AM2 S31N channel. This led to the identification of the novel drug-resistant mutation L46P located outside the drug-binding site, which suggests an allosteric resistance mechanism. Intriguingly, when the L46P mutant was introduced to AM2 WT, the channel remained sensitive toward amantadine inhibition. To elucidate the molecular mechanism, molecular dynamics simulations and binding free energy molecular mechanics-generalized born surface area (MM-GBSA) calculations were performed on WT and mutant channels. It was found that the L46P mutation caused a conformational change in the N terminus of transmembrane residues 22-31 that ultimately broadened the drug-binding site of AM2 S31N inhibitor 4, which spans residues 26-34, but not of AM2 WT inhibitor amantadine, which spans residues 31-34. The MM-GBSA calculations showed stronger binding stability for 4 in complex with AM2 S31N compared with 4 in complex with AM2 S31N/L46P, and equal binding free energies of amantadine in complex with AM2 WT and AM2 L46P. Overall, these results demonstrate a unique allosteric resistance mechanism toward AM2 S31N channel blockers, and the L46P mutant represents the first experimentally confirmed drug-resistant AM2 mutant that is located outside of the pore where drug binds. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: AM2 S31N is a high-profile antiviral drug target, as more than 95% of currently circulating influenza A viruses carry this mutation. Understanding the mechanism of drug resistance is critical in designing the next generation of AM2 S31N channel blockers. Using a previously developed AM2 S31N channel blocker as a chemical probe, this study was the first to identify a novel resistant mutant, L46P. The L46P mutant is located outside of the drug-binding site. Molecular dynamics simulations showed that L46P causes a dilation of drug-binding site between residues 22 and 31, which affects the binding of AM2 S31N channel blockers, but not the AM2 WT inhibitor amantadine.

Dataset Information

Mechanism of drug inhibition and drug resistance of influenza A M2 channel.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets