The acyclic
nucleoside phosphonate drug (S)-9-[3-hydroxy-(2-phosphonomethoxy)propyl]
adenine [(
S)-HPMPA], is a broad-spectrum
antiviral and
antiparasitic agent. Previous work has shown that the active intracellular metabolite of this compound, (
S)-HPMPA diphosphate [(S)-HPMPApp], is an analog of dATP and targets
DNA polymerases. However, the mechanism by which (
S)-HPMPA inhibits
DNA polymerases remains elusive. Using vaccinia virus as a model system, we have previously shown that
cidofovir diphosphate (CDVpp), an analog of
dCTP and a related
antiviral agent, is a poor substrate for the
vaccinia virus DNA polymerase and acts to inhibit primer extension and block 3'-to-5' proofreading
exonuclease activity. Based on structural similarities and the greater
antiviral efficacy of (
S)-HPMPA, we predicted that (S)-HPMPApp would have a similar, but more pronounced effect on
vaccinia polymerase than CDVpp. Interestingly, we found that (S)-HPMPApp is a good substrate for the viral
enzyme, exhibiting K(m) and V(max) parameters comparable to those of dATP, and certainly not behaving like CDVpp as a functional chain terminator. Metabolic experiments indicated that (
S)-HPMPA is converted to (S)-HPMPApp to a much greater extent than CDV is converted to CDVpp, although both drugs cause identical effects on virus DNA replication at their 50% effective concentration. Subsequent studies showed that both compounds can be faithfully incorporated into
DNA, but when CDV and (
S)-HPMPA are incorporated into the template strand, both strongly inhibit trans-lesion DNA synthesis. It thus appears that
nucleoside phosphonate drugs exhibit at least two different effects on
DNA polymerases depending upon in what form the
enzyme encounters the
drug.