NUDT18 catalyzes the hydrolysis of active metabolites of the antivirals Remdesivir, Ribavirin and Molnupiravir

Remdesivir and Molnupiravir have gained considerable interest due to their activity against SARS-CoV-2. Cellular hydrolysis of their active triphosphate forms, Remdesivir-TP and Molnupiravir-TP, would decrease drug efficiency. We therefore tested Remdesivir-TP as a substrate against a panel of human hydrolases and found that NUDT18 catalyzes the hydrolysis of Remdesivir-TP. The kcat value of NUDT18 for Remdesivir-TP was determined to 2.6 s-1 and the Km value was 156 M, suggesting that NUDT18 catalyzed hydrolysis of Remdesivir-TP occurs in cells. We demonstrate that the triphosphates of the antivirals Ribavirin and Molnupiravir are hydrolyzed by NUDT18, albeit with a lower efficiency compared to Remdesivir-TP. NUDT18 also hydrolyses the triphosphates of Sofosbuvir and Aciclovir although with significantly lower activity. These results suggest that NUDT18 can act as a cellular sanitizer of modified nucleotides and may influence the antiviral efficacy of Remdesivir, Molnupiravir and Ribavirin. NUDT18 is expressed in respiratory epithelial cells and may limit the antiviral efficacy of Remdesivir and Molnupiravir against SARS-CoV2 replication by decreasing the intracellular concentration of their active metabolites at their intended site of action.