Discovery of a novel HIV-1 integrase inhibitor from natural compounds through structure based virtual screening and cell imaging

The interaction between HIV-1 integrase and LEDGF/P75 has been validated as a target for anti-HIV drug development. Based on the crystal structure of integrase in complex with LEDGF/P75, a library containing 80 thousand natural compounds was filtered with virtual screening. 11 hits were selected for cell based assays. One compound, 3-(1,3-benzothiazol-2-yl)-8-{[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]methyl}-7-hydroxy-2H-chromen-2-one (D719) inhibited integrase nuclear translocation in cell imaging. The binding mode of D719 was analyzed with molecular simulation. The anti-HIV activity of D719 was assayed by measuring the p24 antigen production in acute infection. The structure characteristics of D719 may provide valuable information for integrase inhibitor design.