Self-assembling nanoparticles for intranasal delivery of influenza fusion inhibitors

 描述（由申请人提供）：迫切需要新的流感抗病毒疗法来补充疫苗接种和现有药物，并加强全球控制流行病和潜在新流行病的努力。新的抗流感治疗是至关重要的，在面对新出现的抗病毒药物对现有药物的耐药性。本研究计划的长期目标是开发一种安全、高效的鼻内流感血凝素（HA）衍生抑制剂，用于高风险未接种疫苗人群的预防。在初步工作中，我们已经产生了流感融合抑制剂，通过缀合脂质的特定肽来源于C-末端区域的HA和添加细胞穿透肽序列的细胞内靶向。我们发现，鼻内给药我们的铅融合抑制剂提供抗病毒， 在体内，预防与获批药物Relenza（c）一样有效。融合抑制肽自组装成约30- 50 nm的纳米颗粒，并被靶细胞内化。我们计划优化候选抗病毒肽并在体内评估它们，为人类使用奠定基础。为此，我们提出增强：1）抗病毒效力; 2）肽自组装; 3）靶细胞膜插入; 4）体内生物分布。我们的目标是产生候选肽，鼻内给药时，保护人类气道上皮细胞和预防病毒感染。这些目标将通过两个具体目标来实现：1。使用结构导向突变和蛋白质工程优化流感肽融合抑制剂的抗病毒效力和生物利用度。将使用系统的结构方法在抑制剂结合界面处掺入特定的残基取代，以增加抑制剂与其靶标的结合能。使用生物物理分析和生物工程的结合，我们将 优化抑制剂的特性--包括颗粒稳定性和内体定位--以将IC 50降低到纳摩尔值。我们将进行体外和离体研究，以评估工程化的抑制肽的抗病毒活性。2.评价优化的自组装肽在棉鼠中提供的针对流感感染的保护。我们将评估优化的纳米颗粒的生物分布和毒性特性，并评估其体内抗流感效力。在迭代过程中，实验结果将指导进一步优化，产生一组有前途的研究性抗流感药物。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): New antiviral therapy for influenza is urgently needed to complement vaccination and existing drugs, and to strengthen global efforts to control epidemics and potential new pandemics. New anti-influenza treatments are critical in the face of emerging antiviral resistance to the existing drugs. The long-term objective of this research plan is to develop a safe and highly effective intranasal influenza hemagglutinin (HA)-derived inhibitor as prophylaxis for use in high-risk unvaccinated populations. In preliminary work, we have generated influenza fusion inhibitors by conjugating lipid to specific peptides derived from the C-terminal region of HA and adding cell penetrating peptide sequences for intracellular targeting. We showed that intranasal administration of our lead fusion inhibitor provides antiviral prophylaxis as efficient as the approved drug Relenza(c) in vivo. The fusion inhibitory peptides self-assemble into ~30- 50 nm nanoparticles and are internalized by the target cells. We plan to optimize the candidate antiviral peptides and assess them in vivo to lay the groundwork for human use. To do so, we propose to enhance: 1) antiviral potency; 2) peptide self-assembly; 3) target cell membrane insertion; 4) in vivo biodistribution. We aim to generate candidate peptides that, when administered intranasally, protect the human airway epithelium and prevent viral infection. These goals will be accomplished with two specific aims: 1. Use structure-guided mutagenesis and protein engineering to optimize the antiviral potency and bioavailability of influenza peptide fusion inhibitors. A systematic structural approach will be used to incorporate specific residue substitutions at the inhibitor binding interface that increase the binding energy f the inhibitor to its target. Using a combination of biophysical analysis and bioengineering we will optimize the inhibitors' features -- including particle stability and endosomal localization -- in order to lower the IC50 to nanomolar values. We will conduct in vitro and ex vivo studies to assess the antiviral activity of the engineered inhibitory peptides. 2. Evaluate the protection against influenza infection afforded by optimized self- assembling peptides in cotton rats. We will evaluate the bio-distribution and toxicity properties of the optimized nanoparticles, and assess their in vivo anti-influenza potency. In an iterative process, the outcome of the experiments will guide further optimization, yielding a set of promising investigational anti-influenza agents.