Ponesimod suppresses hepatitis B virus infection by inhibiting endosome maturation

The discovery of novel antivirals to treat hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is urgently needed, as the currently available drugs mainly target viral proteins at replication step, whereas host factors also play significant roles in HBV infection. Although numerous studies have reported candidate drugs for HBV treatment, there remains a need to find a new drug that may target other steps of the HBV life cycle. In this study, by drug screening of a 533 G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs)-associated compound library, we identified ponesimod, a selective agonist of sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 1 (S1P₁), as a drug candidate for the suppression of HBV infection. However, the anti-HBV effect of ponesimod is independent of S1P₁ and other sphingosine-1-phosphate receptors (S1PRs). Treatment with ponesimod at an early step of infection but not at a post-entry step significantly reduced the HBV relaxed circular DNA (rcDNA) level in a dose-dependent manner. Ponesimod treatment did not inhibit attachment, binding, or internalization of HBV particles via endocytosis through an interaction with sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide (NTCP) or epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Importantly, during the transportation of HBV particles to the nucleus, co-localization of HBV with early endosomes but not with late endosomes and lysosomes was induced by the treatment with ponesimod, suggesting that ponesimod interferes with the conversion of early endosomes to late endosomes without significant damage to cellular growth. Conclusion: Ponesimod is a promising anti-HBV drug targeting the endosome maturation of HBV. This finding can be applied to the development of novel antivirals that target the trafficking pathway of HBV particles.