Substrate Selectivity of Viperin Probed Using Anticancer-Related Pyrimidine Nucleotide Analogs

Once phosphorylated, they function by interfering with either DNA or RNA replication or transcription. The antiviral enzyme, viperin, catalyzes the dehydration of CTP to produce 3′-deoxy-3′,4′-didehydroCTP (ddhCTP), which functions as a natural antiviral nucleotide.

Various drugs mimic the structure of CTP, and furthermore, viperin is upregulated in some cancers and autoimmune diseases. Therefore, we examined whether such drugs may be substrates for viperin. A panel of eight commercially available nucleosides, including several clinically used drugs, were enzymatically converted to their triphosphate forms and investigated as substrates for viperin.