Design, Synthesis and Anti-HIV-1 Activity of Modified Styrylquinolines

Background: Drug resistance and reservoirs of latent viral infection have prevented total eradication of the HIV-virus which underlines the need for continuous efforts in the discovery of new anti-HIV agents. The present study deals with the synthesis of novel compounds based on naturally occurring scaffolds and their evaluation as potential anti-HIV agents. Objective: Design and synthesis of styrylquinoline scaffold based new molecules and evaluation of their anti-HIV-1 activity. Methods: A series of forty three new styrylquinolines (SQLs) was designed and synthesized. The newly synthesized compounds were tested for anti-HIV-1 activity against HIV-1VB59 and HIV- 1UG070 primary isolates in TZM-bl cell lines. Results: The most active compounds 9 and 34 (IC50 = 0.5-4.0 μM), also exhibited significant inhibition activity against HIV-1VB51 primary isolate in PBMCs (IC50 = 7.3 μM). Compounds 9 and 34 were also found to inhibit HIV-1 entry into host cells and fusion inhibitory activities. The study encourages further exploration of SQL nucleus to design anti-HIV-1 agents. Conclusion: The study encourages further exploration of SQL nucleus to design anti-HIV-1 agents.