Covalent Inhibition of Wild-Type HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase Using a Fluorosulfate Warhead

Abstract

Covalent inhibitors of wild-type HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (CRTIs) are reported. Three compounds derived from catechol diether non-nucleoside inhibitors (NNRTIs) with addition of a fluorosulfate warhead are demonstrated to covalently modify Tyr181 of HIV-RT. X-ray crystal structures for complexes of the CRTIs with the enzyme are provided, which fully demonstrate the covalent attachment, and confirmation is provided by appropriate mass shifts in ESI-TOF mass spectra. The three CRTIs and six noncovalent analogues are found to be potent inhibitors with both IC₅₀ values for in vitro inhibition of WT RT and EC₅₀ values for cytopathic protection of HIV-1-infected human T-cells in the 5-320 nM range.