A Study of the Activity of Adamantyl Amines against Mutant Influenza A M2 Channels Identified a Polycyclic Cage Amine Triple Blocker, Explored by Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Solid-State NMR.

We compared the anti-influenza potencies of 57 adamantyl amines and analogs against influenza A virus with serine-31 M2 proton channel, usually termed as WT M2 channel, which is amantadine sensitive. We also tested a subset of these compounds against viruses with the amantadine-resistant L26F, V27A, A30T, G34E M2 mutant channels. Four compounds inhibited WT M2 virus in vitro with mid-nanomolar potency, with 27 compounds showing sub-micromolar to low micromolar potency. Several compounds inhibited L26F M2 virus in vitro with sub-micromolar to low micromolar potency, but only three compounds blocked L26F M2-mediated proton current as determined by electrophysiology (EP). One compound was found to be a triple blocker of WT, L26F, V27A M2 channels by EP assays, but did not inhibit V27A M2 virus in vitro, and one compound inhibited WT, L26F, V27A M2 in vitro without blocking V27A M2 channel. One compound blocked only L26F M2 channel by EP, but did not inhibit virus replication. The triple blocker compound is as long as rimantadine, but could bind and block V27A M2 channel due to its larger girth as revealed by molecular dynamics simulations, while MAS NMR informed on the interaction of the compound with M2(18-60) WT or L26F or V27A.

Chemical Probes for Blocking of Influenza A M2 Wild-type and S31N Channels.

We report on using the synthetic aminoadamantane-CH2-aryl derivatives 1-6 as sensitive probes for blocking M2 S31N and influenza A virus (IAV) M2 wild-type (WT) channels as well as virus replication in cell culture. The binding kinetics measured using electrophysiology (EP) for M2 S31N channel are very dependent on the length between the adamantane moiety and the first ring of the aryl headgroup realized in 2 and 3 and the girth and length of the adamantane adduct realized in 4 and 5. Study of 1-6 shows that, according to molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and molecular mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann surface area (MM/PBSA) calculations, all bind in the M2 S31N channel with the adamantyl group positioned between V27 and G34 and the aryl group projecting out of the channel with the phenyl (or isoxazole in 6) embedded in the V27 cluster. In this outward binding configuration, an elongation of the ligand by only one methylene in rimantadine 2 or using diamantane or triamantane instead of adamantane in 4 and 5, respectively, causes incomplete entry and facilitates exit, abolishing effective block compared to the amantadine derivatives 1 and 6. In the active M2 S31N blockers 1 and 6, the phenyl and isoxazolyl head groups achieve a deeper binding position and high kon/low koff and high kon/high koff rate constants, compared to inactive 2-5, which have much lower kon and higher koff. Compounds 1-5 block the M2 WT channel by binding in the longer area from V27-H37, in the inward orientation, with high kon and low koff rate constants. Infection of cell cultures by influenza virus containing M2 WT or M2 S31N is inhibited by 1-5 or 1-4 and 6, respectively. While 1 and 6 block infection through the M2 block mechanism in the S31N variant, 2-4 may block M2 S31N virus replication in cell culture through the lysosomotropic effect, just as chloroquine is thought to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Unraveling the Binding, Proton Blockage, and Inhibition of Influenza M2 WT and S31N by Rimantadine Variants.

Recently, the binding kinetics of a ligand-target interaction, such as the residence time of a small molecule on its protein target, are seen as increasingly important for drug efficacy. Here, we investigate these concepts to explain binding and proton blockage of rimantadine variants bearing progressively larger alkyl groups to influenza A virus M2 wild type (WT) and M2 S31N protein proton channel. We showed that resistance of M2 S31N to rimantadine analogues compared to M2 WT resulted from their higher koff rates compared to the kon rates according to electrophysiology (EP) measurements. This is due to the fact that, in M2 S31N, the loss of the V27 pocket for the adamantyl cage resulted in low residence time inside the M2 pore. Both rimantadine enantiomers have similar channel blockage and binding kon and koff against M2 WT. To compare the potency between the rimantadine variants against M2, we applied approaches using different mimicry of M2, i.e., isothermal titration calorimetry and molecular dynamics simulation, EP, and antiviral assays. It was also shown that a small change in an amino acid at site 28 of M2 WT, which does not line the pore, seriously affects M2 WT blockage kinetics.

Affinity of Rimantadine Enantiomers against Influenza A/M2 Protein Revisited.

Recent findings from solid state NMR (ssNMR) studies suggested that the (R)-enantiomer of rimantadine binds to the full M2 protein with higher affinity than the (S)-enantiomer. Intrigued by these findings, we applied functional assays, such as antiviral assay and electrophysiology (EP), to evaluate the binding affinity of rimantadine enantiomers to the M2 protein channel. Unexpectedly, no significant difference was found between the two enantiomers. Our experimental data based on the full M2 protein function were further supported by alchemical free energy calculations and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) allowing an evaluation of the binding affinity of rimantadine enantiomers to the M2TM pore. Both enantiomers have similar channel blockage, affinity, and antiviral potency.

Binding and Proton Blockage by Amantadine Variants of the Influenza M2WT and M2S31N Explained.

While aminoadamantanes are well-established inhibitors of the influenza A M2 proton channel, the mechanisms by which they are rendered ineffective against M2S31N are unclear. Solid state NMR, isothermal titration calorimetry, electrophysiology, antiviral assays, and molecular dynamics simulations suggest stronger binding interactions for aminoadamantanes to M2WT compared to negligible or weak binding to M2S31N. This is due to reshaping of the M2 pore when N31 is present, which, in contrast to wild-type (WT), leads (A) to the loss of the V27 pocket for the adamantyl cage and to a predominant orientation of the ligand's ammonium group toward the N-terminus and (B) to the lack of a helical kink upon ligand binding. The kink, which reduces the tilt of the C-terminal helical domain relative to the bilayer normal, includes the W41 primary gate for proton conductance and may prevent the gate from opening, representing an alternative view for how these drugs prevent proton conductance.

Alchemical Free Energy Calculations and Isothermal Titration Calorimetry Measurements of Aminoadamantanes Bound to the Closed State of Influenza A/M2TM.

Adamantane derivatives, such as amantadine and rimantadine, have been reported to block the transmembrane domain (TM) of the M2 protein of influenza A virus (A/M2) but their clinical use has been discontinued due to evolved resistance in humans. Although experiments and simulations have provided adequate information about the binding interaction of amantadine or rimantadine to the M2 protein, methods for predicting binding affinities of whole series of M2 inhibitors have so far been scarcely applied. Such methods could assist in the development of novel potent inhibitors that overcome A/M2 resistance. Here we show that alchemical free energy calculations of ligand binding using the Bennett acceptance ratio (BAR) method are valuable for determining the relative binding potency of A/M2 inhibitors of the aminoadamantane type covering a binding affinity range of only ∼2 kcal mol(-1). Their binding affinities measured by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) against the A/M2TM tetramer from the Udorn strain in its closed form at pH 8 were used as experimental probes. The binding constants of rimantadine enantiomers against M2TMUdorn were measured for the first time and found to be equal. Two series of alchemical free energy calculations were performed using 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) and 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) lipids to mimic the membrane environment. A fair correlation was found for DPPC that was significantly improved using DMPC, which resembles more closely the DPC lipids used in the ITC experiments. This demonstrates that binding free energy calculations by the BAR approach can be used to predict relative binding affinities of aminoadamantane derivatives toward M2TM with good accuracy.

Aminoadamantanes with persistent in vitro efficacy against H1N1 (2009) influenza A.

A series of 2-adamantanamines with alkyl adducts of various lengths were examined for efficacy against strains of influenza A including those having an S31N mutation in M2 proton channel that confer resistance to amantadine and rimantadine. The addition of as little as one CH2 group to the methyl adduct of the amantadine/rimantadine analogue, 2-methyl-2-aminoadamantane, led to activity in vitro against two M2 S31N viruses A/Calif/07/2009 (H1N1) and A/PR/8/34 (H1N1) but not to a third A/WS/33 (H1N1). Solid state NMR of the transmembrane domain (TMD) with a site mutation corresponding to S31N shows evidence of drug binding. But electrophysiology using the full length S31N M2 protein in HEK cells showed no blockade. A wild type strain, A/Hong Kong/1/68 (H3N2) developed resistance to representative drugs within one passage with mutations in M2 TMD, but A/Calif/07/2009 S31N was slow (>8 passages) to develop resistance in vitro, and the resistant virus had no mutations in M2 TMD. The results indicate that 2-alkyl-2-aminoadamantane derivatives with sufficient adducts can persistently block p2009 influenza A in vitro through an alternative mechanism. The observations of an HA1 mutation, N160D, near the sialic acid binding site in both 6-resistant A/Calif/07/2009(H1N1) and the broadly resistant A/WS/33(H1N1) and of an HA1 mutation, I325S, in the 6-resistant virus at a cell-culture stable site suggest that the drugs tested here may block infection by direct binding near these critical sites for virus entry to the host cell.