Preliminary SAR and biological evaluation of potent HIV-1 protease inhibitors with pyrimidine bases as novel P2 ligands to enhance activity against DRV-resistant HIV-1 variants.

Abstract Introducing pyrimidine bases, the basic components of nucleic acid, to P2 ligands might enhance the potency of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 (HIV-1) protease inhibitors because of the carbonyl and amino groups promoting the formation of extensive hydrogen bonding interactions. In this work, we provide evidence that inhibitor 10e, with N-2-(2,4-Dioxo-3,4-dihydropyrimidin-1(2H)-yl) acetamide as the P2 ligand and a 4-methoxylphenylsulfonamide as the P2′ ligand, displayed remarkable enzyme inhibitory and antiviral activity, with the IC50 2.53 nM in vitro and a promising inhibition ratio with 68% against wild-type HIV-1 in vivo, with low cytotoxicity. This inhibitor also exhibited appreciable antiviral activity against DRV-resistant HIV-1 variants, which was of great value for further study.