An effective anti-viral approach targeting hepatitis B virus using NJK14047, a novel and selective biphenyl amide p38 MAPK inhibitor. [PublishAheadOfPrint]

Despite recent advances in therapeutic strategies against hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, chronic hepatitis B still remains as a major global health burden. Recent studies have shown that targeting host factors instead of viral factors can be an effective antiviral strategy with low risk of the development of resistance. Efforts to identify host factors affecting viral replication have identified p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) as a possible target for antiviral strategies against various viruses, including HBV. Here, a series of biphenyl amides were synthesized as novel p38 MAPK selective inhibitors and assessed for their anti-HBV activities. The suppression of HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) production by these compounds was positively correlated with p38 MAPK inhibitory activity. The selected compound NJK14047 displayed significant anti-HBV activity, as determined by HBsAg production, HBeAg secretion, and HBV virus production. NJK14047 efficiently suppressed the secretion of HBV antigens and HBV viral particles from HBV genome-transfected cells and HBV-infected sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide-expressing human hepatoma cells. Furthermore, NJK14047 treatment resulted in a significant decrease of pregenomic RNA and covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) of HBV in HBV-harboring cells, indicating its ability to inhibit HBV replication. Considering that suppression of HBsAg secretion and elimination of cccDNA of HBV are the major aims of anti-HBV therapeutic strategies, the results suggested the potential use of these compounds as a novel class of anti-HBV agents targeting host factors critical for viral infection.

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