Evaluation of phosphatidylinositol-4-kinase IIIα as a hepatitis C virus drug target.

Phosphatidylinositol-4-kinase IIIα (PI4KIIIα) is an essential host cell factor for hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication. An N-terminally truncated 130-kDa form was used to reconstitute an in vitro biochemical lipid kinase assay that was optimized for small-molecule compound screening and identified potent and specific inhibitors. Cell culture studies with PI4KIIIα inhibitors demonstrated that the kinase activity was essential for HCV RNA replication. Two PI4KIIIα inhibitors were used to select cell lines harboring HCV replicon mutants with a 20-fold loss in sensitivity to the compounds. Reverse genetic mapping isolated an NS4B-NS5A segment that rescued HCV RNA replication in PIK4IIIα-deficient cells. HCV RNA replication occurs on specialized membranous webs, and this study with PIK4IIIα inhibitor-resistant mutants provides a genetic link between NS4B/NS5A functions and PI4-phosphate lipid metabolism. A comprehensive assessment of PI4KIIIα as a drug target included its evaluation for pharmacologic intervention in vivo through conditional transgenic murine lines that mimic target-specific inhibition in adult mice. Homozygotes that induce a knockout of the kinase domain or knock in a single amino acid substitution, kinase-defective PI4KIIIα, displayed a lethal phenotype with a fairly widespread mucosal epithelial degeneration of the gastrointestinal tract. This essential host physiologic role raises doubt about the pursuit of PI4KIIIα inhibitors for treatment of chronic HCV infection.

A twenty-eight-day mechanistic time course study in the rhesus monkey with hepatitis C virus protease inhibitor BILN 2061.

BILN 2061 is a potent, reversible inhibitor of hepatitis C virus NS3/NS4A serine protease. Early clinical proof of principle with the drug was offset by the results of subsequent safety studies in Rhesus monkeys revealing cardiotoxicity that featured myocardial vacuolation corresponding to mitochondrial swelling. Here we describe an investigation into the nature, onset, and reversibility of the lesion, and an assessment of potentially predictive biomarkers for the change. Rhesus monkeys were orally administered 1,000 mg/kg/day BILN 2061 and either necropsied after one, three, fourteen, or twenty-eight doses or afforded a ten-week recovery period. The results of electrocardiographic and plasma troponin I and T measurements were unaffected by BILN 2061, but cardiac myocytic vacuolation, correlated with mitochondrial swelling, was observed after three or more doses. Echocardiographic traces obtained after twenty-eight consecutive days of dosing revealed two animals with diminished left ventricular cardiac ejection fraction. One animal was immediately necropsied and exhibited marked cardiotoxicity. The other was afforded a ten-week treatment-free period during which the left ventricular ejection fraction returned to normal. All recovery animal hearts were microscopically and ultrastructurally normal. High-dose BILN 2061 cardiotoxicity in Rhesus monkeys appeared early in the treatment regimen and exhibited reversibility. A reliable biomarker has yet to be identified.

Gene expression profiling reveals multiple toxicity endpoints induced by hepatotoxicants.

Microarray technology continues to gain increased acceptance in the drug development process, particularly at the stage of toxicology and safety assessment. In the current study, microarrays were used to investigate gene expression changes associated with hepatotoxicity, the most commonly reported clinical liability with pharmaceutical agents. Acetaminophen, methotrexate, methapyrilene, furan and phenytoin were used as benchmark compounds capable of inducing specific but different types of hepatotoxicity. The goal of the work was to define gene expression profiles capable of distinguishing the different subtypes of hepatotoxicity. Sprague-Dawley rats were orally dosed with acetaminophen (single dose, 4500 mg/kg for 6, 24 and 72 h), methotrexate (1mg/kg per day for 1, 7 and 14 days), methapyrilene (100mg/kg per day for 3 and 7 days), furan (40 mg/kg per day for 1, 3, 7 and 14 days) or phenytoin (300 mg/kg per day for 14 days). Hepatic gene expression was assessed using toxicology-specific gene arrays containing 684 target genes or expressed sequence tags (ESTs). Principal component analysis (PCA) of gene expression data was able to provide a clear distinction of each compound, suggesting that gene expression data can be used to discern different hepatotoxic agents and toxicity endpoints. Gene expression data were applied to the multiplicity-adjusted permutation test and significantly changed genes were categorized and correlated to hepatotoxic endpoints. Repression of enzymes involved in lipid oxidation (acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, medium chain, enoyl CoA hydratase, very long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase) were associated with microvesicular lipidosis. Likewise, subsets of genes associated with hepatotocellular necrosis, inflammation, hepatitis, bile duct hyperplasia and fibrosis have been identified. The current study illustrates that expression profiling can be used to: (1) distinguish different hepatotoxic endpoints; (2) predict the development of toxic endpoints; and (3) develop hypotheses regarding mechanisms of toxicity.