Structural and Functional Characterization of Membrane Fusion Inhibitors with Extremely Potent Activity against Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1), HIV-2, and Simian Immunodeficiency Virus.

T-20 (enfuvirtide) is the only membrane fusion inhibitor available for the treatment of viral infection; however, it has low anti-human immunodeficiency virus (anti-HIV) activity and a low genetic barrier for drug resistance. We recently reported that T-20 sequence-based lipopeptides possess extremely potent in vitro and in vivo efficacies (X. Ding, Z. Zhang, H. Chong, Y. Zhu, H. Wei, X. Wu, J. He, X. Wang, Y. He, 2017, J Virol 91:e00831-17, https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.00831-17; H. Chong, J. Xue, Y. Zhu, Z. Cong, T. Chen, Y. Guo, Q. Wei, Y. Zhou, C. Qin, Y. He, 2018, J Virol 92:e00775-18, https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.00775-18). Here, we focused on characterizing the structure-activity relationships of the T-20 derivatives. First, a novel lipopeptide termed LP-52 was generated with improved target-binding stability and anti-HIV activity. Second, a large panel of truncated lipopeptides was characterized, revealing a 21-amino-acid sequence core structure. Third, it was surprisingly found that the addition of the gp41 pocket-binding residues in the N terminus of the new inhibitors resulted in increased binding but decreased antiviral activities. Fourth, while LP-52 showed the most potent activity in inhibiting divergent HIV-1 subtypes, its truncated versions, such as LP-55 (25-mer) and LP-65 (24-mer), still maintained their potencies at very low picomolar concentrations; however, both the N- and C-terminal motifs of LP-52 played crucial roles in the inhibition of T-20-resistant HIV-1 mutants, HIV-2, and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) isolates. Fifth, we verified that LP-52 can bind to target cell membranes and human serum albumin and has low cytotoxicity and a high genetic barrier to inducing drug resistance. IMPORTANCE Development of novel membrane fusion inhibitors against HIV and other enveloped viruses is highly important in terms of the peptide drug T-20, which remains the only one for clinical use, even if it is limited by large dosages and resistance. Here, we report a novel T-20 sequence-based lipopeptide showing extremely potent and broad activities against HIV-1, HIV-2, SIV, and T-20-resistant mutants, as well as an extremely high therapeutic selectivity index and genetic resistance barrier. The structure-activity relationship (SAR) of the T-20 derivatives has been comprehensively characterized, revealing a critical sequence core structure and the target sites of viral vulnerability that do not include the gp41 pocket. The results also suggest that membrane-anchored inhibitors possess unique modes of action relative to unconjugated peptides. Combined, our series studies have not only provided drug candidates for clinical development but also offered important tools to elucidate the mechanisms of viral fusion and inhibition.