CMX001 (1-O-hexadecyloxypropyl-cidofovir) inhibits polyomavirus JC replication in human brain progenitor-derived astrocytes

Polyomavirus JC (JCV) replication causes progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a frequently fatal brain disease in immunodeficient patients, yet antiviral drugs are lacking. We characterized the lipid conjugate 1-O-hexadecyloxypropyl-cidofovir (CMX001) regarding JCV (Mad-4) replication in human brain progenitor-derived astrocytes (PDA) and the simian virus 40 (SV40) large-T-antigen-expressing COS-7 cells up to 7 days postinfection (dpi). We examined JCV loads by PCR, the infection rate by immunofluorescence, and host cell toxicity by WST-1 and BrdU incorporation assays. Supernatants from CMX001-treated PDA demonstrated a drug concentration-dependent decrease in JCV loads and infectivity. CMX001 had only a modest effect on host cell metabolism but reduced overall BrdU incorporation. In PDA at 7 dpi, the CMX001 50% effective concentration (EC50) was 5.55 nM, the 50% cytotoxic concentration (CC50) was 184.6 nM, and the 50% selectivity index (SI50) was 33.3. The EC90 was 19.7 nM, the CC90 was 5,054 nM, and the SI90 was 256.1. In COS-7 cells, JCV replication was faster and the EC50 and EC90 were 18- and 37-fold higher than those in PDA, i.e., 0.1 muM and 0.74 muM (CC50, 0.67 muM; SI50, 6.7; CC90, 12.2 muM; SI90, 16.5) at 5 dpi. We conclude that CMX001 inhibits JCV replication at concentrations in vitro that can be attained by oral administration without significant side effects in clinical studies.