Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
Sci Rep. 2017 Sep 15;7(1):11689. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-11735-7.
Cellular entry, the first crucial step of viral infection, can be inhibited by molecules adsorbed on the virus surface. However, apart from using stronger affinity, little is known about the properties of such inhibitors that could increase their effectiveness. Our simulations showed that multivalent inhibitors can be designed to be much more efficient than their monovalent counterparts. For example, for our particular simulation model, a single multivalent inhibitor spanning 5 to 6 binding sites is enough to prevent the uptake compared to the required 1/3 of all the receptor binding sites needed to be blocked by monovalent inhibitors. Interestingly, multivalent inhibitors are more efficient in inhibiting the uptake not only due to their increased affinity but mainly due to the co-localization of the inhibited receptor binding sites at the virion's surface. Furthermore, we show that Janus-like inhibitors do not induce virus aggregation. Our findings may be generalized to other uptake processes including bacteria and drug-delivery.
细胞进入是病毒感染的关键第一步,可以被吸附在病毒表面的分子所抑制。然而,除了使用更强的亲和力之外,对于能够提高其效果的此类抑制剂的特性知之甚少。我们的模拟表明,可以设计多价抑制剂使其比单价抑制剂更有效。例如,对于我们特定的模拟模型,一个跨越 5 到 6 个结合位点的单一多价抑制剂就足以阻止病毒进入,而单价抑制剂则需要阻断三分之一的受体结合位点。有趣的是,多价抑制剂不仅由于其增加的亲和力,而且主要由于被抑制的受体结合位点在病毒粒子表面的共定位,从而更有效地抑制摄取。此外,我们表明类 Janus 抑制剂不会诱导病毒聚集。我们的发现可以推广到其他摄取过程,包括细菌和药物输送。