Discovery of novel anti-HIV-1 agents based on a broadly neutralizing antibody against the envelope gp120 V3 loop: a computational study

Abstract

A computer-aided search for novel anti-HIV-1 agents able to mimic the pharmacophore properties of broadly neutralizing antibody (bNAb) 3074 was carried out based on the analysis of X-ray complexes of this antibody Fab with the MN, UR29, and VI191 peptides from the V3 loop of the HIV envelope protein gp120. Using these empirical data, peptidomimetic candidates of bNAb 3074 were identified by a public, web-oriented virtual screening platform (pepMMsMIMIC) and models of these candidates bound to the above V3 peptides were generated by molecular docking. The docking calculations identified four molecules exhibiting a high affinity to all of the V3 peptides. These molecules were selected as the most probable peptidomimetics of bNAb 3074. Finally, the stability of the complexes of these molecules with the MN, UR29, and VI191 V3 peptides was estimated by molecular dynamics and free energy simulations. Specific binding to the V3 loop was accomplished primarily by π–π interactions between the aromatic rings of the peptidomimetics and the conserved Phe-20 and/or Tyr-21 of the V3 immunogenic crown. In a mechanism similar to that of bNAb 3074, these compounds were found to block the tip of the V3 loop forming its invariant structural motif that contains residues critical for cell tropism. Based on these findings, the compounds selected are considered as promising basic structures for the rational design of novel, potent, and broad-spectrum anti-HIV-1 therapeutics.