TY - JOUR
T1 - Combination treatment with hepatitis C virus protease and NS5A inhibitors is effective against recombinant genotype 1a, 2a, and 3a viruses
AU - Gottwein, Judith M
AU - Jensen, Sanne B
AU - Li, Yi-Ping
AU - Ghanem, Lubna
AU - Scheel, Troels K H
AU - Serre, Stéphanie B N
AU - Mikkelsen, Lotte
AU - Bukh, Jens
PY - 2013/3
Y1 - 2013/3
N2 - With the development of directly acting antivirals, hepatitis C virus (HCV) therapy entered a new era. However, rapid selection of resistance mutations necessitates combination therapy. To study combination therapy in infectious culture systems, we aimed at developing HCV semi-full-length (semi-FL) recombinants relying only on the JFH1 NS3 helicase, NS5B, and the 3' untranslated region. With identified adaptive mutations, semi-FL recombinants of genotypes(isolates) 1a(TN) and 3a(S52) produced supernatant infectivity titers of ~4 log(10) focus-forming units/ml in Huh7.5 cells. Genotype 1a(TN) adaptive mutations allowed generation of 1a(H77) semi-FL virus. Concentration-response profiles revealed the higher efficacy of the NS3 protease inhibitor asunaprevir (BMS-650032) and the NS5A inhibitor daclatasvir (BMS-790052) against 1a(TN and H77) than 3a(S52) viruses. Asunaprevir had intermediate efficacy against previously developed 2a recombinants J6/JFH1 and J6cc. Daclatasvir had intermediate efficacy against J6/JFH1, while low sensitivity was confirmed against J6cc. Using a cross-titration scheme, infected cultures were treated until viral escape or on-treatment virologic suppression occurred. Compared to single-drug treatment, combination treatment with relatively low concentrations of asunaprevir and daclatasvir suppressed infection with all five recombinants. Escaped viruses primarily had substitutions at amino acids in the NS3 protease and NS5A domain I reported to be genotype 1 resistance mutations. Inhibitors showed synergism at drug concentrations reported in vivo. In summary, semi-FL HCV recombinants, including the most advanced reported genotype 3a infectious culture system, permitted genotype-specific analysis of combination treatment in the context of the complete viral life cycle. Despite differential sensitivity to lead compound NS3 protease and NS5A inhibitors, genotype 1a, 2a, and 3a viruses were suppressed by combination treatment with relatively low concentrations.
AB - With the development of directly acting antivirals, hepatitis C virus (HCV) therapy entered a new era. However, rapid selection of resistance mutations necessitates combination therapy. To study combination therapy in infectious culture systems, we aimed at developing HCV semi-full-length (semi-FL) recombinants relying only on the JFH1 NS3 helicase, NS5B, and the 3' untranslated region. With identified adaptive mutations, semi-FL recombinants of genotypes(isolates) 1a(TN) and 3a(S52) produced supernatant infectivity titers of ~4 log(10) focus-forming units/ml in Huh7.5 cells. Genotype 1a(TN) adaptive mutations allowed generation of 1a(H77) semi-FL virus. Concentration-response profiles revealed the higher efficacy of the NS3 protease inhibitor asunaprevir (BMS-650032) and the NS5A inhibitor daclatasvir (BMS-790052) against 1a(TN and H77) than 3a(S52) viruses. Asunaprevir had intermediate efficacy against previously developed 2a recombinants J6/JFH1 and J6cc. Daclatasvir had intermediate efficacy against J6/JFH1, while low sensitivity was confirmed against J6cc. Using a cross-titration scheme, infected cultures were treated until viral escape or on-treatment virologic suppression occurred. Compared to single-drug treatment, combination treatment with relatively low concentrations of asunaprevir and daclatasvir suppressed infection with all five recombinants. Escaped viruses primarily had substitutions at amino acids in the NS3 protease and NS5A domain I reported to be genotype 1 resistance mutations. Inhibitors showed synergism at drug concentrations reported in vivo. In summary, semi-FL HCV recombinants, including the most advanced reported genotype 3a infectious culture system, permitted genotype-specific analysis of combination treatment in the context of the complete viral life cycle. Despite differential sensitivity to lead compound NS3 protease and NS5A inhibitors, genotype 1a, 2a, and 3a viruses were suppressed by combination treatment with relatively low concentrations.
KW - 3' Untranslated Regions
KW - Amino Acid Substitution
KW - Cell Line, Tumor
KW - Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
KW - Drug Resistance, Viral
KW - Drug Therapy, Combination
KW - Genotyping Techniques
KW - Hepacivirus
KW - Hepatocytes
KW - Humans
KW - Imidazoles
KW - Isoquinolines
KW - Mutation
KW - Protease Inhibitors
KW - Recombination, Genetic
KW - Sulfonamides
KW - Viral Nonstructural Proteins
U2 - 10.1128/AAC.02164-12
DO - 10.1128/AAC.02164-12
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 23274664
SN - 0066-4804
VL - 57
SP - 1291
EP - 1303
JO - Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
JF - Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
IS - 3
ER -
