A highly sensitive aptamer-based HIV reverse transcriptase detection assay.

Although many new assays for HIV have been developed, several labs still use simple and reliable radioactivity-based reverse transcriptase (RT) nucleotide incorporation assays for detection and quantification. We describe here a new assay for detection and quantitation of HIV RT activity that is based on a high affinity DNA aptamer to RT. The aptamer is sequestered on 96-well plates where it can bind to RT and other constituents can be removed by extensive washing. Since the aptamer mimics a primer-template, upon radiolabeled nucleotide addition, bound RT molecules can extend the aptamer and the radioactive signal can be detected by standard methods. In addition to being procedurally simple, the assay demonstrated high sensitivity (detection limits for RT and virions were ≤6400 molecules (∼4 × 10-8 units) and ∼100-300 virions, respectively) and was essentially linear over a range of at least 104. Both wild type and drug-resistant forms of HIV-1 RT were detectable as was HIV-2 RT, although there were some modest differences in sensitivity.

Exploration of the effect of sequence variations located inside the binding pocket of HIV-1 and HIV-2 proteases.

HIV-2 protease (PR2) is naturally resistant to most FDA (Food and Drug Administration)-approved HIV-1 protease inhibitors (PIs), a major antiretroviral class. In this study, we compared the PR1 and PR2 binding pockets extracted from structures complexed with 12 ligands. The comparison of PR1 and PR2 pocket properties showed that bound PR2 pockets were more hydrophobic with more oxygen atoms and fewer nitrogen atoms than PR1 pockets. The structural comparison of PR1 and PR2 pockets highlighted structural changes induced by their sequence variations and that were consistent with these property changes. Specifically, substitutions at residues 31, 46, and 82 induced structural changes in their main-chain atoms that could affect PI binding in PR2. In addition, the modelling of PR1 mutant structures containing V32I and L76M substitutions revealed a cooperative mechanism leading to structural deformation of flap-residue 45 that could modify PR2 flexibility. Our results suggest that substitutions in the PR1 and PR2 pockets can modify PI binding and flap flexibility, which could underlie PR2 resistance against PIs. These results provide new insights concerning the structural changes induced by PR1 and PR2 pocket variation changes, improving the understanding of the atomic mechanism of PR2 resistance to PIs.

The discovery of novel diarylpyri(mi)dine derivatives with high level activity against a wide variety of HIV-1 strains as well as against HIV-2.

By means of structure-based molecular hybridization strategy, a series of novel diarylpyri(mi)dine derivatives targeting the entrance channel of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) were designed, synthesized and evaluated as potent non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs). Encouragingly, all the tested compounds showed good activities against wild-type (WT) HIV-1 (IIIB) with EC50 in the range of 1.36 nM-29 nM, which is much better than those of nevirapine (NVP, EC50 = 125.42 nM) and azidothymidine (AZT, EC50 = 11.36 nM). Remarkably, these compounds also displayed effective activity against the most of the single and double-mutated HIV-1 strains with low EC50 values, which is comparable to the control drugs. Besides, these compounds were also exhibited favorable enzymatic inhibitory activity. Moreover, preliminary structure-activity relationships (SARs) and molecular modeling study were investigated and discussed in detail. Unexpectedly, four diarylpyrimidines yielded moderate anti-HIV-2 activities. To our knowledge, this is rarely reported that diarylpyrimidine-based NNRTIs have potent activity against both HIV-1 and HIV-2 in cell culture.

Amino acid residues in HIV-2 reverse transcriptase that restrict the development of nucleoside analogue resistance through the excision pathway.

Nucleoside reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors (NRTIs) are the backbone of current antiretroviral treatments. However, the emergence of viral resistance against NRTIs is a major threat to their therapeutic effectiveness. In HIV-1, NRTI resistance-associated mutations either reduce RT-mediated incorporation of NRTI triphosphates (discrimination mechanism) or confer an ATP-mediated nucleotide excision activity that removes the inhibitor from the 3' terminus of DNA primers, enabling further primer elongation (excision mechanism). In HIV-2, resistance to zidovudine (3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (AZT)) and other NRTIs is conferred by mutations affecting nucleotide discrimination. Mutations of the excision pathway such as M41L, D67N, K70R, or S215Y (known as thymidine-analogue resistance mutations (TAMs)) are rare in the virus from HIV-2-infected individuals. Here, we demonstrate that mutant M41L/D67N/K70R/S215Y HIV-2 RT lacks ATP-dependent excision activity, and recombinant virus containing this RT remains susceptible to AZT inhibition. Mutant HIV-2 RTs were tested for their ability to unblock and extend DNA primers terminated with AZT and other NRTIs, when complexed with RNA or DNA templates. Our results show that Met73 and, to a lesser extent, Ile75 suppress excision activity when TAMs are present in the HIV-2 RT. Interestingly, recombinant HIV-2 carrying a mutant D67N/K70R/M73K RT showed 10-fold decreased AZT susceptibility and increased rescue efficiency on AZT- or tenofovir-terminated primers, as compared with the double-mutant D67N/K70R. Molecular dynamics simulations reveal that Met73influences ß3-ß4 hairpin loop conformation, whereas its substitution affects hydrogen bond interactions at position 70, required for NRTI excision. Our work highlights critical HIV-2 RT residues impeding the development of excision-mediated NRTI resistance.

Drug resistance mutations in HIV-2 patients failing raltegravir and influence on dolutegravir response.

Background: A broader extent of amino acid substitutions in the integrase of HIV-2 compared with HIV-1 might enable greater cross-resistance between raltegravir and dolutegravir in HIV-2 infection. Few studies have examined the virological response to dolutegravir in HIV-2 patients that failed raltegravir. Methods: All patients recorded in the HIV-2 Spanish cohort were examined. The integrase coding region was sequenced in viraemic patients. Changes associated with resistance to raltegravir and dolutegravir in HIV-1 were recorded. Results: From 319 HIV-2-infected patients recorded in the HIV-2 Spanish cohort, 53 integrase sequences from 30 individuals were obtained (20 raltegravir naive and 10 raltegravir experienced). Only one secondary mutation (E138A) was found in one of the 20 raltegravir-naive HIV-2 patients. For raltegravir-experienced individuals, the resistance mutation profile in 9 of 10 viraemic patients was as follows: N155H + A153G/S (four); Y143G + A153S (two); Q148R + G140A/S (two); and Y143C + Q91R (one). Of note, all patients with Y143G and N155H developed a rare non-polymorphic mutation at codon 153. Rescue therapy with dolutegravir was given to 5 of these 10 patients. After >6 months on dolutegravir therapy, three patients with baseline N155H experienced viral rebound. In two of them N155H was replaced by Q148K/R and in another by G118R. Conclusions: A wide repertoire of resistance mutations in the integrase gene occur in HIV-2-infected patients failing on raltegravir. Although dolutegravir may allow successful rescue in most HIV-2 raltegravir failures, we report and characterize three cases of dolutegravir resistance in HIV-2 patients, emerging variants Q148K and Q148R and a novel change G118R.

High-Frequency Illegitimate Strand Transfers of Nascent DNA Fragments During Reverse Transcription Result in Defective Retrovirus Genomes.

BACKGROUND: Two strand transfers of nascent DNA fragments during reverse transcription are required for retrovirus replication. However, whether strand transfers occur at illegitimate sites and how this may affect retrovirus replication are not well understood. METHODS: The reverse transcription was carried out with reverse transcriptases (RTs) from HIV-1, HIV-2, and murine leukemia virus. The nascent complementary DNA fragments were directly cloned without polymerase chain reaction amplification. The sequences were compared with the template sequence to determine if new sequences contained mismatched sequences caused by illegitimate strand transfers. RESULTS: Among 1067 nascent reverse transcript sequences, most of them (72%) matched to the template sequences, although they randomly stopped across the RNA templates. The other 28% of them contained mismatched 3'-end sequences because of illegitimate strand transfers. Most of the illegitimate strand transfers (81%) were disassociated from RNA templates and realigned onto opposite complementary DNA strands. Up to 3 strand transfers were detected in a single sequence, whereas most of them (93%) contained 1 strand transfer. Because most of the illegitimate strand-transfer fragments were generated from templates at 2 opposite orientations, they resulted in defective viral genomes and could not be detected by previous methods. Further analysis showed that mutations at pause/disassociation sites resulted in significantly higher strand-transfer rates. Moreover, illegitimate strand-transfer rates were significantly higher for HIV-2 RT (38.2%) and murine leukemia virus RT (44.6%) than for HIV-1 RT (5.1%). CONCLUSIONS: Illegitimate strand transfers frequently occur during reverse transcription and can result in a large portion of defective retrovirus genomes.

The performance of reverse transcriptase assay for the estimation of the plasma viral load in HIV-1 and HIV-2 infections.

Viral load testing for human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) in resource-poor settings continues to be a challenge. Although antiretroviral therapy (ART) is being made available in developing countries, monitoring of viral load is not being done on a regular basis. The purpose of this study was to assess the utility of Cavidi version 3.0, which measures the plasma reverse transcriptase (RT) activity and compare its performance with molecular HIV viral load assays. In all, 125 HIV-1 and 13 HIV-2 positive samples were analyzed. The overall sensitivity of the assay was 86.8% and 94.1% for viral load >1000 copies/ml measured by Qiagen Artus HIV-1 RG RT PCR and Abbott RealTime HIV-1 PCR assays, respectively. Compared with the routine molecular viral load assays, Cavidi version 3.0 is inexpensive, user-friendly, the expenditure on infrastructure is minimal, and it can be used for monitoring of both HIV types.

dUTPase: the frequently overlooked enzyme encoded by many retroviruses.

Retroviruses are among the best studied viruses in last decades due to their pivotal involvement in cellular processes and, most importantly, in causing human diseases, most notably-acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) that is triggered by human immunodeficiency viruses types 1 and 2 (HIV-1 and HIV-2, respectively). Numerous studied were conducted to understand the involvement of the three cardinal retroviral enzymes, reverse transcriptase, integrase and protease, in the life cycle of the viruses. These studies have led to the development of many inhibitors of these enzymes as anti-retroviral specific drugs that are used for routine treatments of HIV/AIDS patients. Interestingly, a fourth virus-encoded enzyme, the deoxyuridine 5'-triphosphate nucleotidohydrolase (dUTPase) is also found in several major retroviral groups. The presence and the importance of this enzyme to the life cycle of retroviruses were usually overlooked by most retrovirologists, although the occurrence of dUTPases, particularly in beta-retroviruses and in non-primate retroviruses, is known for more than 20 years. Only more recently, retroviral dUTPases were brought into the limelight and were shown in several cases to be essential for viral replication. Therefore, it is likely that future studies on this enzyme will advance our knowledge to a level that will allow designing novel, specific and potent anti-dUTPase drugs that are effective in combating retroviral diseases. The aim of this review is to give concise background information on dUTPases in general and to summarize the most relevant data on retroviral dUTPases and their involvement in the replication processes and pathogenicity of the viruses, as well as in possibly-associated human diseases.

Identification of a dibenzocyclooctadiene lignan as a HIV-1 non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor.

BACKGROUND: Due to resistance to all classes of anti-HIV drugs and drug toxicity, there is a need for the discovery and development of new anti-HIV drugs. METHODS: HIV-1 inhibitors were identified and biologically characterized for mechanism of action. RESULTS: We identified a dibenzocyclooctadiene lignan, termed HDS2 that possessed anti-HIV activity against a wide variety of viral strains with EC50 values in the 1-3 µM range. HDS2 was shown to act as an NNRTI by qPCR and in vitro enzyme assays. CONCLUSIONS: This compound provides a new scaffold for further optimization of activity through structure-guided design.

The importance of glutamine 294 that affects the ribonuclease H activity of the reverse transcriptase of HIV-2 to viral replication.

Most currently-used antiretroviral drugs inhibit the reverse-transcriptase (RT) of HIV. The differences between HIV-1 and HIV-2 RTs explain why some of the anti-HIV-1 drugs are not effective against HIV-2. One major difference between the two HIV RTs is the low ribonuclease H (RNase H) activity of HIV-2 RT relative to HIV-1 RT. Our previous studies showed that residue Gln294 in HIV-2 RT accounts for this RNase H reduction (the comparable residue in HIV-1 RT is Pro294), as the Q294P mutant of HIV-2 RT has ~10-fold higher RNase H. Here, we show that infectious HIV-2 cannot bear the replacement of the RT's Gln294 by the HIV-1 RT Pro counterpart, as it results in substantially reduced HIV-2 replication and fast reversions to the wild-type Gln294 virus. These findings prove the critical role of maintaining low RT-associated RNase H activity in HIV-2. In contrast, HIV-1 can tolerate an about 10-fold higher RNase H.

Design, synthesis of new ß-carboline derivatives and their selective anti-HIV-2 activity.

In the present study, a new series of ß-carboline derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for inhibition activity against both HIV-1 and HIV-2 strains. Among these reported analogues, surprisingly (1-phenyl-9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indol-3-yl)(4-p-tolylpiperazin-1-yl)methanone (7b), (4-(2-methoxyphenyl)piperazin-1-yl)(1-phenyl-9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indol-3-yl)methanone (7f), (4-(4-fluorophenyl)piperazin-1-yl)(1-phenyl-9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indol-3-yl)methanone (7k), (4-(2-fluorophenyl)piperazin-1-yl)(1-phenyl-9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indol-3-yl)methanone (7l) displayed selective inhibition of HIV-2 strain with EC50 values of 3.3, 3.2, 2.6 and 5.4µM, respectively, which are comparable with nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors lamivudine and dideoxyinosine. As these analogues have not shown in vitro HIV-2 reverse transcriptase inhibition, it could be excluded as potential target for their specific anti-HIV-2 activity.

Modeling interactions between C60 antiviral compounds and HIV protease.

Fullerenes have generated a great deal of interest in recent years, due to their properties and potential applications in many fields, including medicine. In this paper, we study an antiviral fullerene compound which may be used to treat the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We formulate a mathematical model which can describe the interaction energy between the C[Formula: see text] antiviral compounds and the HIV. In particular, this paper predicts the energy and force arising from the interaction between HIV active region and the antiviral molecule which is attached to the external surface of a fullerene C[Formula: see text]. These interactions are calculated based on the structure of the antiviral molecules. Our results show that the binding of fullerene C[Formula: see text] to the antiviral molecules increases the efficiency of the compound to prohibit the activity of HIV.

Mutation V111I in HIV-2 reverse transcriptase increases the fitness of the nucleoside analogue-resistant K65R and Q151M viruses.

UNLABELLED: Infection with HIV-2 can ultimately lead to AIDS, although disease progression is much slower than with HIV-1. HIV-2 patients are mostly treated with a combination of nucleoside reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors (NRTIs) and protease inhibitors designed for HIV-1. Many studies have described the development of HIV-1 resistance to NRTIs and identified mutations in the polymerase domain of RT. Recent studies have shown that mutations in the connection and RNase H domains of HIV-1 RT may also contribute to resistance. However, only limited information exists regarding the resistance of HIV-2 to NRTIs. In this study, therefore, we analyzed the polymerase, connection, and RNase H domains of RT in HIV-2 patients failing NRTI-containing therapies. Besides the key resistance mutations K65R, Q151M, and M184V, we identified a novel mutation, V111I, in the polymerase domain. This mutation was significantly associated with mutations K65R and Q151M. Sequencing of the connection and RNase H domains of the HIV-2 patients did not reveal any of the mutations that were reported to contribute to NRTI resistance in HIV-1. We show that V111I does not strongly affect drug susceptibility but increases the replication capacity of the K65R and Q151M viruses. Biochemical assays demonstrate that V111I restores the polymerization defects of the K65R and Q151M viruses but negatively affects the fidelity of the HIV-2 RT enzyme. Molecular dynamics simulations were performed to analyze the structural changes mediated by V111I. This showed that V111I changed the flexibility of the 110-to-115 loop region, which may affect deoxynucleoside triphosphate (dNTP) binding and polymerase activity. IMPORTANCE: Mutation V111I in the HIV-2 reverse transcriptase enzyme was identified in patients failing therapies containing nucleoside analogues. We show that the V111I change does not strongly affect the sensitivity of HIV-2 to nucleoside analogues but increases the fitness of viruses with drug resistance mutations K65R and Q151M.

Appointing silver and bronze standards for noncovalent interactions: a comparison of spin-component-scaled (SCS), explicitly correlated (F12), and specialized wavefunction approaches.

A systematic examination of noncovalent interactions as modeled by wavefunction theory is presented in comparison to gold-standard quality benchmarks available for 345 interaction energies of 49 bimolecular complexes. Quantum chemical techniques examined include spin-component-scaling (SCS) variations on second-order perturbation theory (MP2) [SCS, SCS(N), SCS(MI)] and coupled cluster singles and doubles (CCSD) [SCS, SCS(MI)]; also, method combinations designed to improve dispersion contacts [DW-MP2, MP2C, MP2.5, DW-CCSD(T)-F12]; where available, explicitly correlated (F12) counterparts are also considered. Dunning basis sets augmented by diffuse functions are employed for all accessible ζ-levels; truncations of the diffuse space are also considered. After examination of both accuracy and performance for 394 model chemistries, SCS(MI)-MP2/cc-pVQZ can be recommended for general use, having good accuracy at low cost and no ill-effects such as imbalance between hydrogen-bonding and dispersion-dominated systems or non-parallelity across dissociation curves. Moreover, when benchmarking accuracy is desirable but gold-standard computations are unaffordable, this work recommends silver-standard [DW-CCSD(T**)-F12/aug-cc-pVDZ] and bronze-standard [MP2C-F12/aug-cc-pVDZ] model chemistries, which support accuracies of 0.05 and 0.16 kcal/mol and efficiencies of 97.3 and 5.5 h for adenine·thymine, respectively. Choice comparisons of wavefunction results with the best symmetry-adapted perturbation theory [T. M. Parker, L. A. Burns, R. M. Parrish, A. G. Ryno, and C. D. Sherrill, J. Chem. Phys. 140, 094106 (2014)] and density functional theory [L. A. Burns, Á. Vázquez-Mayagoitia, B. G. Sumpter, and C. D. Sherrill, J. Chem. Phys. 134, 084107 (2011)] methods previously studied for these databases are provided for readers' guidance.

Kinetic variations between reverse transcriptases of viral protein X coding and noncoding lentiviruses.

BACKGROUND: Host SAM domain and HD domain-containing protein 1 (SAMHD1) suppresses reverse transcription kinetics of HIV-1 in nondividing cells such as macrophages by hydrolyzing and nearly depleting cellular dNTPs, which are the substrates of viral reverse transcriptase (RT). However, unlike HIV-1, HIV-2 and SIVsm encode viral protein X (Vpx), which counteracts the dNTPase activity of SAMHD1 and elevates dNTP concentration, allowing the viruses to replicate under abundant dNTP conditions even in nondividing cells. FINDINGS: Here we tested whether RTs of these Vpx coding and noncoding lentiviruses display different enzyme kinetic profiles in response to dNTP concentrations. For this test, we characterized an extensive collection of RTs from 7 HIV-1 strains, 4 HIV-2 strains and 7 SIV strains, and determined their steady-state kinetic parameters. The K m values of all HIV-1 RTs were consistently low and close to the low dNTP concentrations found in macrophages. However, the K m values of SIV and HIV-2 RTs were not only higher than those of HIV-1 RTs but also varied significantly, indicating that HIV-2/SIV RTs require higher dNTP concentrations for efficient DNA synthesis, compared to HIV-1 RT. However, the k cat values of all eighteen lentiviral RTs were very similar. CONCLUSIONS: Our biochemical analysis supports the hypothesis that the enzymological properties, particularly, K m values, of lentivirus RTs, are mechanistically tied with the cellular dNTP availability in nondividing target cells, which is controlled by SAMHD1 and Vpx.

Revealing origin of decrease in potency of darunavir and amprenavir against HIV-2 relative to HIV-1 protease by molecular dynamics simulations.

Clinical inhibitors Darunavir (DRV) and Amprenavir (APV) are less effective on HIV-2 protease (PR2) than on HIV-1 protease (PR1). To identify molecular basis associated with the lower inhibition, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and molecular mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann surface area (MM-PBSA) calculations were performed to investigate the effectiveness of the PR1 inhibitors DRV and APV against PR1/PR2. The rank of predicted binding free energies agrees with the experimental determined one. Moreover, our results show that two inhibitors bind less strongly to PR2 than to PR1, again in agreement with the experimental findings. The decrease in binding free energies for PR2 relative to PR1 is found to arise from the reduction of the van der Waals interactions induced by the structural adjustment of the triple mutant V32I, I47V and V82I. This result is further supported by the difference between the van der Waals interactions of inhibitors with each residue in PR2 and in PR1. The results from the principle component analysis suggest that inhibitor binding tends to make the flaps of PR2 close and the one of PR1 open. We expect that this study can theoretically provide significant guidance and dynamics information for the design of potent dual inhibitors targeting PR1/PR2.

A modular system to evaluate the efficacy of protease inhibitors against HIV-2.

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) protease is a homodimeric aspartyl protease that is crucial for the viral life-cycle, cleaving proviral polyproteins, hence creating mature protein components that are required for the formation of an infectious virus. With diagnostic measures and clinically used protease inhibitors focusing on HIV-1, due to its higher virulence and prevalence, studies of the efficacy of those inhibitors on HIV-2 protease remain widely lacking. Utilizing a wild-type HIV-2 vector backbone and cloning techniques we have developed a cassette system where the efficacy of clinically used protease inhibitors can be studied for various serotypes of HIV-2 protease both in enzymatic and cell culture assays. In our experiments, optimization of the expression protocol led to a relatively stable enzyme, for cell culture assays, the efficiency of transfection and transduction capability of the modified vector was tested and was not found to differ from that of the wild-type, moreover, a 2nd generation protease inhibitor was used to demonstrate the usefulness of the system. The combination of assays performed with our cassette system is expected to provide an accurate measure of the efficacy of currently used; as well as experimental protease inhibitors on HIV-2.

SAMHD1 specifically affects the antiviral potency of thymidine analog HIV reverse transcriptase inhibitors.

Sterile alpha motif and histidine-aspartic domain-containing protein 1 (SAMHD1) is a deoxynucleoside triphosphate (dNTP) triphosphohydrolase recently recognized as an antiviral factor that acts by depleting dNTP availability for viral reverse transcriptase (RT). SAMHD1 restriction is counteracted by the human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) accessory protein Vpx, which targets SAMHD1 for proteosomal degradation, resulting in an increased availability of dNTPs and consequently enhanced viral replication. Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI), one of the most common agents used in antiretroviral therapy, compete with intracellular dNTPs as the substrate for viral RT. Consequently, SAMHD1 activity may be influencing NRTI efficacy in inhibiting viral replication. Here, a panel of different RT inhibitors was analyzed for their different antiviral efficacy depending on SAMHD1. Antiviral potency was measured for all the inhibitors in transformed cell lines and primary monocyte-derived macrophages and CD4(+) T cells infected with HIV-1 with or without Vpx. No changes in sensitivity to non-NRTI or the integrase inhibitor raltegravir were observed, but for NRTI, sensitivity significantly changed only in the case of the thymidine analogs (AZT and d4T). The addition of exogenous thymidine mimicked the change in viral sensitivity observed after Vpx-mediated SAMHD1 degradation, pointing toward a differential effect of SAMHD1 activity on thymidine. Accordingly, sensitivity to AZT was also reduced in CD4(+) T cells infected with HIV-2 compared to infection with the HIV-2ΔVpx strain. In conclusion, reduction of SAMHD1 levels significantly decreases HIV sensitivity to thymidine but not other nucleotide RT analog inhibitors in both macrophages and lymphocytes.

Complex patterns of protease inhibitor resistance among antiretroviral treatment-experienced HIV-2 patients from Senegal: implications for second-line therapy.

Protease inhibitor (PI)-based antiretroviral therapy (ART) can effectively suppress HIV-2 plasma load and increase CD4 counts; however, not all PIs are equally active against HIV-2, and few data exist to support second-line therapy decisions. To identify therapeutic options for HIV-2 patients failing ART, we evaluated the frequency of PI resistance-associated amino acid changes in HIV-2 sequences from a cohort of 43 Senegalese individuals receiving unboosted indinavir (n = 18 subjects)-, lopinavir/ritonavir (n = 4)-, or indinavir and then lopinavir/ritonavir (n = 21)-containing ART. Common protease substitutions included V10I, V47A, I54M, V71I, I82F, I84V, L90M, and L99F, and most patients harbored viruses containing multiple changes. Based on genotypic data, we constructed a panel of 15 site-directed mutants of HIV-2ROD9 containing single- or multiple-treatment-associated amino acid changes in the protease-encoding region of pol. We then quantified the susceptibilities of the mutants to the HIV-2 "active" PIs saquinavir, lopinavir, and darunavir using a single-cycle assay. Relative to wild-type HIV-2, the V47A mutant was resistant to lopinavir (6.3-fold increase in the mean 50% effective concentration [EC50]), the I54M variant was resistant to darunavir and lopinavir (6.2- and 2.7-fold increases, respectively), and the L90M mutant was resistant to saquinavir (3.6-fold increase). In addition, the triple mutant that included I54M plus I84V plus L90M was resistant to all three PIs (31-, 10-, and 3.8-fold increases in the mean EC50 for darunavir, saquinavir, and lopinavir, respectively). Taken together, our data demonstrate that PI-treated HIV-2 patients frequently harbor viruses that exhibit complex patterns of PI cross-resistance. These findings suggest that sequential PI-based regimens for HIV-2 treatment may be ineffective.

HIV-2EU: supporting standardized HIV-2 drug resistance interpretation in Europe.

Considering human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) phenotypic data and experience from HIV type 1 and from the follow-up of HIV-2-infected patients, a panel of European experts voted on a rule set for interpretation of mutations in HIV-2 protease, reverse transcriptase, and integrase and an automated tool for HIV-2 drug resistance analyses freely available on the Internet (http://www.hiv-grade.de).