Inhibitory effect of fasiglifam on hepatitis B virus infections through suppression of the sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide.

Fasiglifam is a selective partial agonist of G-protein-coupled receptor 40 (GPR40), which was developed for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, the clinical development of fasiglifam was voluntarily terminated during phase III clinical trials due to adverse liver effects. Fasiglifam showed an inhibitory effect on sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide (NTCP) in human and rat hepatocytes. Recently, NTCP was reported to be a functional receptor for human hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections. Therefore, in this study, we hypothesised that fasiglifam would be a good candidate for a novel HBV entry inhibitor, and its effects were evaluated by using NTCP-overexpressing HepG2 cells, human hepatocyte cell lines and human hepatocytes (PXB cells) obtained from PXB mice. Pre-treatment with fasiglifam at a concentration of 30 µM prior to HBV infection significantly suppressed supernatant HBV DNA levels after HBV infection in NTCP-overexpressing HepG2 cells, human hepatocyte cell lines and PXB cells. Fasiglifam did not suppress supernatant HBV DNA levels up to 50 µM in HepG2.2.15.7 cells, which are stably transfected with a complete HBV genome without HBV infection. These results indicated that fasiglifam only affect on HBV infection via NTCP inhibition. For HBV treatment of fasiglifam, further investigation including additional non clinical research in addition to the evaluation of safety and efficacy in humans would be needed in the future study.

Fatty acid biosynthesis is involved in the production of hepatitis B virus particles.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) proliferates in hepatocytes after infection, but the host factors that contribute to the HBV lifecycle are poorly understood at the molecular level. We investigated whether fatty acid biosynthesis (FABS), which was recently reported to contribute to the genomic replication of hepatitis C virus, plays a role in HBV proliferation. We examined the effects of inhibitors of the enzymes in the FABS pathway on the HBV lifecycle by using recombinant HBV-producing cultured cells and found that the extracellular HBV DNA level, reflecting HBV particle production, was decreased by treatment with inhibitors suppressed the synthesis of long-chain saturated fatty acids with little cytotoxicity. The reduced HBV DNA level was reversed when palmitic acid, which is the product of fatty acid synthase (FAS) during FABS, was used simultaneously with the inhibitor. We also observed that the amount of intracellular HBV DNA in the cells was increased by FAS inhibitor treatment, suggesting that FABS is associated with HBV particle production but not its genome replication. This suggests that FABS might be a potent target for anti-HBV drug with a mode of action different from current HBV therapy.

Bardoxolone methyl as a novel potent antiviral agent against hepatitis B and C viruses in human hepatocyte cell culture systems.

Antiviral drugs against hepatitis B virus (HBV) relieve symptoms experienced by patients with hepatitis; however, these drugs cannot eliminate HBV infection from all patients completely. On the other hand, direct antiviral agents (DAAs) against hepatitis C virus (HCV) can achieve near-complete elimination of HCV infection. However, recent reports have claimed that DAAs pose a risk for HBV reactivation among patients with HBV and HCV co-infection. This suggests that an effective anti-viral strategy for both HBV and HCV would be extremely useful. We hypothesized that an activator of nuclear factor-erythroid factor 2 (Nrf2) could be a candidate, because heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), a product of the Nrf2-target gene, was shown to be related to suppression of genome replication in both HBV and HCV. In this study, the potential of bardoxolone methyl (BARD), an Nrf2 activator, was examined in cell culture systems against HBV and HCV. We investigated that BARD had a suppressive effect on the production of extracellular HBV DNA in several HBV culture systems. In addition, BARD treatment reduced the levels of intracellular HBV pregenome RNA (pgRNA), a transcript from the HBV genome and a template of HBV genome replication. HCV genome replication was also suppressed in HCV subgenomic replicon-bearing cells by BARD treatment. BARD might be a novel treatment for patients with HBV and HCV co-infection.

Liver-specific mono-unsaturated fatty acid synthase-1 inhibitor for anti-hepatitis C treatment.

Recently, direct antiviral agents against hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection have been developed as highly effective anti-HCV drugs. However, the appearance of resistant viruses against direct anti-viral agents is an unsolved problem. One of the strategies considered to suppress the emergence of the drug-resistant viruses is to use drugs inhibiting the host factor, which contributes to HCV proliferation, in combination with direct anti-viral agents. The replication complex was reported to be present in the membranous compartment in the cells. Thus, lipid metabolism modulators are good candidates to regulate virus assembly and HCV replication. Recent studies have shown that stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD), an enzyme for long-chain mono-unsaturated fatty acid (LCMUFA) synthesis, is a key factor that defines HCV replication efficiency. Systemic exposure to SCD-1 inhibor induces some side effects in the eyes and skin. Thus, systemic SCD-1 inhibitors are considered inappropriate for HCV therapy. To avoid the side effects of systemic SCD-1 inhibitors, the liver-specific SCD-1 inhibitor, MK8245, was synthesized; it showed antidiabetic effects in diabetic model mice with no side effects. In the phase 1 clinical study on measurement of MK8245 tolerability, no significant side effects were reported (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00790556). Therefore, we thought liver-specific SCD-1 inhibitors would be suitable agents for HCV-infected patients. MK8245 was evaluated using recombinant HCV culture systems. Considering current HCV treatments, to avoid the emergence of direct anti-viral agents-resistant viruses, combination therapy with direct anti-viral agents and host-targeted agents would be optimal. With this viewpoint, we confirmed MK8245's additive or synergistic anti-HCV effects on current direct anti-viral agents and interferon-alpha therapy. The results suggest that MK8245 is an option for anti-HCV multi-drug therapy with a low risk of emergence of drug-resistant HCV without significant side effects.

IRSp53 mediates podosome formation via VASP in NIH-Src cells.

Podosomes are cellular "feet," characterized by F-actin-rich membrane protrusions, which drive cell migration and invasion into the extracellular matrix. Small GTPases that regulate the actin cytoskeleton, such as Cdc42 and Rac are central regulators of podosome formation. The adaptor protein IRSp53 contains an I-BAR domain that deforms membranes into protrusions and binds to Rac, a CRIB motif that interacts with Cdc42, an SH3 domain that binds to many actin cytoskeletal regulators with proline-rich peptides including VASP, and the C-terminal variable region by splicing. However, the role of IRSp53 and VASP in podosome formation had been unclear. Here we found that the knockdown of IRSp53 by RNAi attenuates podosome formation and migration in Src-transformed NIH3T3 (NIH-Src) cells. Importantly, the differences in the IRSp53 C-terminal splicing isoforms did not affect podosome formation. Overexpression of IRSp53 deletion mutants suggested the importance of linking small GTPases to SH3 binding partners. Interestingly, VASP physically interacted with IRSp53 in NIH-Src cells and was essential for podosome formation. These data highlight the role of IRSp53 as a linker of small GTPases to VASP for podosome formation.