Charles University Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology Student: Eliška Marková Suprevisor: doc. PharmDr. Martina Čečková, Ph.D. Title of diploma thesis: Study of the effect of novel antiretroviral drugs on carnitine transport in the placenta Nowadays, the antiretroviral treatment of HIV-positive pregnant women is the standard approach for restriction of transmission of HIV infection from mother to the fetus. In spite of necessity of this pharmacotherapy, it is important to know its safety and risks. For the correct fetal development and function of placenta it is (besides others) essential to ensure the optimal supply of L-carnitine, the key factor for oxidation of fatty acids from mother's blood to the placenta and fetal blood circulation. The deficiency of L-carnitine generally leads to significant metabolic changes in the cells and in it usually demonstrated with cardiomyopathies and myopaties. Published studies indicate higher incidence of cardiovascular diseases and cardiomyopathies in children born to mothers treated with antiretroviral therapy during pregnancy. Optimal transport of carnitine into the placental cells, is ensured due to the presence of functional transport protein OCTN2 in the apical membrane of trophoblast. The aim of this study was...

Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Medicine. Johannesburg, 2011 / The HIV-1 integrase (IN) enzyme is an integral part of the viral replication cycle and has no known human homologues, making it an ideal target for antiretroviral therapy. To date, only one inhibitor of IN strand transfer activity (Raltegravir, IsentressTM) is available for human use. However, the inevitable emergence of antiretroviral drug resistance requires ongoing research into new/novel therapies. There are currently no assays to screen for IN inhibitors against HIV-1 subtype C in South Africa (and worldwide), therefore, the overall objective of this study was to generate and characterize locally relevant, soluble, functional recombinant HIV-1 subtype C IN proteins for use in strand transfer assays. Recombinant integrase genes, including a soluble HIV-1 subtype C mutant (05ZAFV6 with C56S, C65S, W131D, F185D and C280S) and HIV-1 subtype C Y143C mutant (05ZAFV6 soluble with Y143C) were designed, generated and cloned in frame into pET15b. Optimal bacterial expression conditions for the expression of these constructs as well as an HIV-1 subtype C wild type (05ZAFV6), subtype B wild type (NL4-3), and subtype B soluble (NL4-3 with F185K and C280S; as controls) IN, in E.coli BL21 cells were determined. All five recombinant IN were successfully purified using nickel affinity chromatography, and subsequently used to establish a strand transfer assay to assess their activity and their response to two well-known integrase inhibitors, L-Chicoric acid and Raltegravir. All five recombinant IN proteins were found to be biologically active, with INY143C (116.67%) showing equivalent activity to INBwt (117.37%), while INCsol (52.96%) was the lowest. The IC50 values of L-Chicoric acid were higher than the expected values for all five recombinant IN, with the subtype B and C IN solubility mutations contributing to an increased resistance to inhibition by L-Chicoric acid. The dose responses to Raltegravir for INCwt and INBsol were as expected, with IC50’s in line with published data, and the INY143C mutant (known mutation conferring resistance to Raltegravir) was resistant to inhibition of strand transfer activity at all Raltegravir concentrations tested except the highest (50 μM). Finally, methods to complex the INY143C mutant to thiolated-DNA were evaluated, however definitive data could not be obtained. Future work should focus on optimization of the purification and characterization of the IN-DNA complexes. Overall, this study has led to the establishment of functional strand transfer assays based on HIV-1 subtype C recombinant IN proteins, and established a framework for screening of novel HIV-1 subtype C IN inhibitors.

Huang Hai. / "May 2003." / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. (158-183). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

Orientador: Adriano Mondini / Resumo: Arbovírus são vírus transmitidos por artrópodes. Apresentam grande importância no âmbito da saúde pública devido à morbidade e mortalidade de suas infecções. Nos últimos quatro anos, muitos casos de infecção pelos vírus Zika (ZIKV) e Chikungunya (CHIKV) foram notificados no Brasil. O controle de seu principal vetor, o mosquito Aedes aegypti, é uma das formas de combate a esses vírus. Não há, até o momento, terapia antiviral específica contra infecções causadas por esses vírus, e os meios de controle do vetor, disponíveis, geram resistência e danos ambientais. Assim, compostos naturais, com ação antiviral ou que controlem o vetor, tornam-se uma via importante e atrativa. O extrato de inhame (Colocasia esculenta) possui entre suas substâncias a tarina, uma lectina que demonstrou atividade antiviral contra o DENV e HCV, além de atividade larvicida contra mosquitos Diaphania nitidalis. O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar a atividade do extrato de Colocasia esculenta, obtidos por dois métodos de extração, quanto a sua atividade antiviral contra o CHIKV e ZIKV, bem como quanto a sua ação larvicida contra o mosquito Aedes aegypti. Os extratos foram obtidos a partir das folhas e do caule do inhame, e extraídos com a utilização de água e metanol. Os extratos aquosos e metanólico foram obtidos por técnica de maceração. Para a avaliação da ação antiviral, os extratos foram utilizados em ensaios de citotoxidade e de redução de placas em cultura celular, bem como PCR em tempo real (qPCR) p... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Mestre

Resistance of human viral pathogens to various antiviral drugs is a serious medical problem. Two modes of drug resistance in cytomegalovirus infections have been observed, the first being altered (decreased) drug metabolism by the infected cells, and the second reduced sensitivity of the viral deoxyribonucleic acid polymerase enzyme to the active form of the drug. Mice infected with the murine cytomegalovirus have been used extensively as an animal model for the human cytomegalovirus, and drug-resistant strains in this model have been identified. To better understand the mode of drug resistance of the virus, the metabolism of two antiviral drugs, 9-(1,3-dihydroxy-2-propoxymethyl)guanine (ganciclovir) and (S)-1-(3-hydroxy-2-phosphonylmethoxypropyl)cytosine (cidofovir), was studied in cells infected with the virus. The degree of resistance of the mutant virus strain to these two drugs and also to the drug phosphonoformic acid (foscarnet) was measured in viral plaque reduction assays. The resistant strain was 14-,4-, and 11-fold less sensitive to the drugs ganciclovir, foscarnet, and cidofovir, respectively, than a sensitive (wildtype) strain Metabolism of the antiviral drugs ganciclovir and cidofovir was studied in C127I mouse mammary tumor cells infected with the mutant strain. Uninfected C127I cells and C127I cells infected with the sensitive strain of murine cytomegalovirus were used as controls. The cells were treated with tritium-labeled ganciclovir or cidofovir and studied under a variety of parameters. Among these were duration of treatment, multiplicity of infection, and concentration of compound. After incubating, the cells were acid extracted and analyzed with high-pressure liquid chromatography. The radioactivity of each sample was measured on a scintillation counter and converted into picomoles of drug per million cells. No significant difference was observed between the virus strains in terms of metabolism or catabolism of the two drugs. This effect remained constant, even when controlling for parameters such as the amount of virus infecting each cell, duration of treatment, or concentration of drug. Based on these results, it appears that the mode of resistance in this mutant strain of virus to ganciclovir and cidofovir is not due to an alteration in metabolism of these two compounds by infected cells. Thus, it is proposed that drug resistance in this mutant strain of virus is due to altered viral deoxyribonucleic acid polymerase function.

Honey has been used for centuries as a medicine to treat various ailments and infections. A large amount of research has established that honey has potent antibacterial activity. However, the sensitivity to honey of viral species that cause infections has been studied in only a small number of cases. The aim of this study was to obtain data to clarify and extend knowledge obtained from these previous studies of honey's antiviral activity, and especially study those viruses that cause localised infections which have limited or no therapy available, which are suitable to treatment with topically applied honey. The susceptible A549 cell line and viral isolates of Adenovirus serotypes 1, 3, and 8, and Herpes simplex virus serotypes 1 and 2, were provided by the Waikato Hospital Virology Laboratory. A number of types of honey were investigated from a range of sources: Manuka honey with high concentrations of methylglyoxal, unique manuka factor activity, and phenolics, Honeydew and Rewarewa honeys which have high antioxidant activity, and Ling Heather honey which is high in phenolic compounds. These honeys were selected due to their range of characteristic activities in order to make comparisons with antiviral activity. A variety of tests using cell culture were developed to evaluate the sensitivity of the viruses to whole honey. Each test scored and monitored the development of morphological changes to the cells, to observe whether the honey treatment can prevent the development of these changes known as viral cytopathic effect. These included tests for: protection, in which the cells were pre-treated with, and iii incubated either with or without honey; prevention, where honey was used to treat infected cells, and in plaque reduction assays, to examine whether it can reduce the resultant number of plaques; and neutralisation, in which the virus was directly exposed to the honey for a defined period. It was found with each type of test using cell culture that many of the honeys studied can lower the severity of viral cytopathic effect or delay its onset compared with the development observed with virus that was not treated with honey. This can suggest that the antiviral activity may be a feature of more than one type of honey. In general the antiviral effect increased with the concentration of honey and time the virus was exposed to it. Manuka honey M116 at a concentration of 10% was effective in preventing the development of viral cytopathic effect of each of virus, after the viruses at concentrations in excess of the tissue culture infectious dose had been exposed to the honey for 8 hours. Enzyme-linked immunosorbant assays were used to measure the effect the successful treatments found in the extended neutralisation experiments had on viral surface proteins necessary for viral entry into the cells. The results using this technique suggested that there was very little virus present in the samples that had been treated with honey and with the untreated virus. Therefore it could not be shown whether the honey was acting via this mechanism. It is concluded from the findings in this study that honey is likely to be an effective antiviral treatment for the therapy of localised viral infections, this needs to be verified by clinical trials.

published_or_final_version / Medical Sciences / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

published_or_final_version / Medical Sciences / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

Influenza vaccination is the best preventive measure against influenza virus infection, and antivirals including oseltamivir are effective treatments. From a public health point of view, it is important to evaluate whether vaccination and antiviral treatment reduces transmission of the virus. I analyzed data from a community-based study of influenza virus transmission in households, and identified effectiveness of antiviral treatment in reducing duration of illness and some evidence that treatment reduced transmission to household contacts. I also analyzed data from a community-based placebo-controlled trial of influenza vaccination and confirmed efficacy of vaccination against seasonal influenza but differential efficacy against pandemic influenza possibly because of timing and mediation of seasonal influenza epidemics. In further analyses I found that antibody titers of 1:40 correlated with 50% protection against infection, and repeated vaccination with the same strains tended to be associated with reduced responses to those strains although there was no evidence of reduced efficacy. In the study, one child in each household was randomly allocated to receive vaccine or placebo and I did not identify any evidence of indirect benefits to the household members of vaccinated children. I reviewed vaccine target groups in different countries, and noted that some countries now include school-age children in their target groups based mainly on the principle of herd immunity. My findings did not support the inclusion of school-age children as a target group for vaccination in Hong Kong. Further studies should examine the indirect as well as direct benefits of vaccination in different settings in order to guide optimal influenza vaccination policies. / published_or_final_version / Community Medicine / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

R5-tropic HIV-1 is predominantly transmitted during unprotected sexual contacts, rendering CCR5 antagonist as an attractive agent not only for antiretroviral therapy but also for prevention. Here, we report two 1,3,3,4-tetrasubstituted pyrrolidine embodied compounds, TD-0232 and TD-0680, as novel small molecule CCR5 antagonists and investigate their specificities, potencies and underlying mechanisms. We found that both TD-0232 and TD-0680 inhibited a diverse group of R5-tropic HIV-1 and SIV strains in both single-cycle infectivity assays and live viral PBMC assays. When compared to other CCR5 antagonists, such as TAK-779 and the only FDA-approved Maraviroc, TD-0680 displayed the highest potency with EC50 values at the subnanomolar levels (range 0.09nM-2.29nM). TD-0232 and TD-0680, but not Tenofovir, a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, completely blocked envelope-mediated cell-cell fusion and subsequent viral transmission. Critically, TD-0680 was potent at inhibiting the replication of a TAK-779/Maraviroc-resistant HIV-1 variant in PBMCs at a subnanomolar concentration. Interestingly, despite binding to a similar transmembrane pocket of CCR5, TD-0232 and TD-0680 functioned differently as revealed by site-directed mutagenesis and drug combination assays. Based on the sequence homology, we constructed a CCR5 molecule model using the crystallized CXCR4 as a template. By docking of CCR5 antagonists with CCR5, we identified a unique binding mode of TD-0680, which has not been described previously. TD-0680, with an exo-configuration, extended its interaction with the ECL-2 region of CCR5 in a protruding manner, thereby interrupting the interaction between the virus and its co-receptor more effectively. In an antibody recognition assay, we confirmed that TD-0680 had an enhanced inhibitory activity against the anti-ECL2 monoclonal antibodies binding. Furthermore, we investigated the antiviral activities of TD-0232 and TD-0680 that were formulated into a thermo-reversible acidic microbicide gel. Both drugs were stable in the acidic gels and could be released rapidly for long lasting and potent antiviral activities. Although human semen could enhance the infection of HIV-1, it did not seem to affect the potencies of the TD-0232 and TD-0680 gels. In summary, our findings suggest that TD-0232 and TD-0680 can be further developed not only as anti-HIV-1 agents for therapeutic purposes but also as potent microbicides for the prevention of sexual transmission of R5-tropic HIV-1. / published_or_final_version / Microbiology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy