Design and synthesis of 8-hydroxy-[1,6]naphthyridines as novel inhibitors of HIV-1 integrase in vitro and in infected cells

Naphthyridine 7 inhibits the strand transfer of the integration process catalyzed by integrase with an IC50 of 10 nM and inhibits 95% of the spread of HIV-1 infection in cell culture at 0.39 μM. It does not exhibit cytotoxicity in cell culture at ≤12.5 μM and shows a good pharmacokinetic profile when dosed orally to rats. The antiviral activity of 7 and its effect on integration were confirmed using viruses with specific integrase mutations.