Inhibition of sendai virus-induced hemolysis by long chain fatty acids

In vitro and in vivo inhibitory effects of disodium cromoglycate on influenza virus infection

Disodium cromoglycate (DSCG) is one of the safest drugs for the prevention of bronchial asthma and allergic rhinitis attacks. The effect of DSCG on acute upper respiratory tract viral infection is still controversial. Here we investigated DSCG inhibition of influenza virus infection in vivo and in vitro. In vivo effects of DSCG on viral infection were assessed using a murine model of respiratory tract infection. Intranasal administration of DSCG protected mice from death induced by infection with influenza virus A/PR/8/34. We analyzed DSCG anti-viral effects in vitro by either (i) treating cells prior to viral adsorption, (ii) treating cells concurrently with viral adsorption, or (iii) treating cells after viral adsorption. DSCG treatment of cells during or after, but not before, viral adsorption significantly inhibited influenza viral infection, indicating DSCG acts on events late in viral infection. DSCG exerts anti-influenza effect both in vitro and in vivo at the doses compatible with treatment for asthma. DSCG marginally inhibited influenza viral neuraminidase and membrane fusion functions, suggesting that DSCG inhibition of viral neuraminidase and fusion activities may partially mediate this anti-influenza effect. Our results indicate that treatment of patients including children with DSCG may take advantages for prevention from influenza virus infection.

Recent advances in the chemistry of parainfluenza-1 (Sendai) virus inhibitors

Purine and pyrimidine derivatives, antioxidants, fusion inhibitors, statins, prostaglandins, antibiotic nucleosides, inhibitors of Ca(2+) homeostasis, carbohydrate derivatives, antisense polynucleotides and chimeras, are described as inhibitors of parainfluenza-1 (Sendai) viral infections.

An O-glycoside of sialic acid derivative that inhibits both hemagglutinin and sialidase activities of influenza viruses

The compound Neu5Ac3alphaF-DSPE (4), in which the C-3 position was modified with an axial fluorine atom, inhibited the catalytic hydrolysis of influenza virus sialidase and the binding activity of hemagglutinin. The inhibitory activities to sialidases were independent of virus isolates examined. With the positive results obtained for inhibition of hemagglutination and hemolysis induced by A/Aichi/2/68 virus, the inhibitory effect of Neu5Ac3alphaF-DSPE (4) against MDCK cells was examined, and it was found that 4 inhibits the viral infection with IC50 value of 5.6 microM based on the cytopathic effects. The experimental results indicate that compound 4 not only inhibits the attachment of virus to the cell surface receptor but also disturbs the release of the progeny viruses from infected cells by inhibiting both hemagglutinin and sialidase of the influenza viruses. The study suggested that the compound is a new class of bifunctional drug candidates for the future chemotherapy of influenza.

Effect of free fatty acids on the permeability of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine bilayer at the main phase transition

We measured the influence of saturated and unsaturated free fatty acids on the permeability and partition of ions into 1, 2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) bilayers. The bilayer permeability was measured using the depletion of N-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl)-1, 2-dihexadecanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylethanolamine (N-NBD-PE) fluorescence as a result of its reduction by dithionite. We observed a distinct increase of dithionite permeability at the main gel-fluid phase transition of DMPC. When vesicles were formed from a mixture of DMPC and oleic acid, the membrane permeability at the phase transition was reduced drastically. Stearic acid and methyl ester of oleic acid have little effect. Similar results in the quenching of pyrene-PC in DMPC vesicles by iodide were obtained. Again, the increase of iodide partition into the lipid phase at the main phase transition of DMPC was abolished by the addition of unsaturated free fatty acids. Free fatty acids, in concentrations up to 5 mol%, do not abolish DMPC phase transition when measured by differential scanning calorimetry. It seems that unsaturated, but not saturated, free fatty acids reduce the lipid bilayer permeability to dithionite and iodide ions at the main phase transition of DMPC, without altering the thermodynamic properties of the bilayer.

Synthetic sialylphosphatidylethanolamine derivatives bind to human influenza A viruses and inhibit viral infection

We synthesized the sialylphosphatidylethanolamine (sialyl PE) derivatives Neu5Ac-PE, (Neu5Ac)2-PE, Neu5Ac-PE (amide) and Neu5Ac-PE (methyl). We examined the anti-viral effects of the derivatives on human influenza A virus infection by ELISA/virus-binding, hemagglutination inhibition, hemolysis inhibition and neutralization assays. The sialyl PE derivatives that we examined bound to A/Aichi/2/68, A/Singapore/1/57 and A/Memphis/1/71 strains of H3N2 subtype, but not to A/PR/8/34 strain of H1N1 subtype. The derivatives inhibited viral hemagglutination and hemolysis of human erythrocytes with A/Aichi/2/68 and A/Singapore/1/57 (H3N2), but not with A/PR/8/34 (H1N1). The inhibitory activity of the (Neu5Ac)2-PE derivative was the strongest of all sialyl PE derivatives (IC50, 35 microM to 40 microM). Sialyl PE derivatives also inhibited the infection of A/Aichi/2/68 in MDCK cells. Complete inhibition was observed at a concentration between 0.3 to 1.3 mM. IC50 of (Neu5Ac)2-PE was 15 microM in A/Aichi/2/68 strain. Taken together, the synthetic sialyl PE derivatives may be effective reagents against infection of some types of influenza A viruses.

Effects of temperature and lipophilic agents on poliovirus formation and RNA synthesis in a cell-free system

The translation and primary processing events of poliovirus polyproteins in HeLa cell extracts were more efficient at 34 degrees C than at 30 or 36 degrees C. The cleavage products of P2 such as 2Apro, 2BC, and 2C appeared early in the reaction before the appearance of the cleavage products of P1 and of 3CDpro, an observation suggesting that P2 was cleaved in cis by 3CDpro. Proteolytic processing of the capsid precursor P1 into VP0, VP1, and VP3 was also more efficient at 34 degrees C than at either 30 or 32 degrees C. Surprisingly, processing of 3CDpro to 3Cpro and 3Dpol was almost completely inhibited at 36 degrees C. The synthesis of virus in the cell extract was greatly enhanced at 34 degrees C over that at 30 or 32 degrees C, whereas incubation at 36 degrees C yielded very little virus. Cerulenin, an inhibitor of lipid synthesis, did not appear to affect virus-specific translation or protein processing, but it almost completely inhibited viral synthesis in vitro. Oleic acid drastically inhibited in vitro translation at 100 microM and in vitro poliovirus synthesis at 25 microM. Addition of HeLa cell smooth membranes partially restored translation but not virus formation. Our observations suggest that in vitro translation, proteolytic processing, and virus formation require intact membranes. Analysis of the in vitro translation products revealed that viral RNA polymerase activity increased linearly during incubation of the translation mixture. RNA polymerase in the crude mixture was inhibited by oleic acid but not by cerulenin. Surprisingly, oleic acid had no direct effect on oligo(U)-primed, poly(A)-dependent poly(U) synthesis catalyzed by purified 3Dpol.

Prolongation of survival in retrovirally induced T cell lymphoma by dietary omega 6 fatty acid

C57BL/Ka mice were fed diets rich in omega 3 or omega 6 polyunsaturated fatty acids and inoculated with the thymic lymphoma-inducing retrovirus RadLV. Mice receiving the omega 3 diet died significantly sooner than those receiving the omega 6 diet. Of the three known mechanisms by which fatty acids can exert antiviral activity, namely, modification of membrane fluidity, modulation of immune response, and synthesis of metabolites with antiviral activity, the first two can be eliminated in the model under study. It is therefore concluded that differences in survival are due to fatty acid metabolites with distinct antiviral activities.

Effects of fatty acids on lipid synthesis and viral RNA replication in poliovirus-infected cells

Animal viruses profoundly modify the metabolism of lipids, the synthesis of new membranes, and membrane traffic. These alterations are related to the replication of viral genomes. Addition of oleic acid from the beginning of poliovirus infection inhibits the appearance of virus polypeptides at concentrations that do not affect translation in mock-infected HeLa cells. This inhibition is due to the blockade of viral RNA synthesis. Membranes made in poliovirus-infected cells in the presence of oleic acid differ in their buoyant density from control membranes. These results suggest that the incorporation of oleic acid into membranes leads to increased membrane fluidity and decreased buoyant density, making these membranes nonfunctional for poliovirus RNA replication.

Control of virus-induced cell fusion by host cell lipid composition

Virus-induced cell fusion has been examined in a series of stable cell lines which were originally selected for resistance to the fusogenic effects of polyethylene glycol (PEG). For a wide variety of viruses, including murine hepatitis virus (a coronavirus), vesicular stomatitis virus (a rhabdovirus), and two paramyxoviruses (Sendai virus and SV5), susceptibility to virus-induced fusion was found to be inversely correlated with susceptibility to PEG-induced fusion. This phenomenon was observed both for cell fusion occurring in the course of viral infection and for fusion induced "from without" by the addition of high titers of noninfectious or inactivated virus. The fusion-altered cell lines (fusible by virus but not by PEG) are characterized by their unusual lipid composition, including marked elevation of saturated fatty acids and the presence of an unusual ether-linked neutral lipid. To test the association between lipid composition and fusion, acyl chain saturation was manipulated by supplementing the culture medium with exogenous fatty acids. In such experiments, it was possible to control the responses of these cells to both viral and chemical fusogens. Increasing the cellular content of saturated fatty acyl chains increased the susceptibility of cells to viral fusion and decreased susceptibility to PEG-induced fusion, whereas lowering fatty acid saturation had the opposite effect. Thus, parallel cultures of cells can be either driven toward the PEG-fusible/virus-fusion-resistant phenotype of the parental cells or rendered susceptible to viral fusion but resistant to PEG-induced fusion, solely by the alteration of cellular lipids. The ability of cellular lipid composition to regulate virus-induced membrane fusion suggests a possible role for lipids in viral infection and pathogenesis.

Trifluoperazine inhibits Sendai virus-induced hemolysis

Sendai virus-induced hemolysis, a manifestation of virus-red cell fusion, is inhibited by exposure of the virus to 50 microM and higher concentrations of trifluoperazine. Trifluoperazine does not disrupt the virus, since trifluoperazine-treated virus with no hemolytic activity sediments slightly faster than untreated virus on sucrose density gradients and contains viral proteins in proportions characteristic of untreated virus. Trifluoperazine affects the fusion protein to a greater extent than the hemagglutinin, since trifluoperazine-treated virus with no hemolytic activity is as active or nearly as active in agglutinating red cells. The partition coefficient of trifluoperazine between the virus membrane and buffer is lower at 4 degrees C than, but the same at 37 degrees C, as that between the red cell membrane and buffer. Nevertheless, virus-independent red cell lysis and inactivation of virus-mediated hemolysis occur when the red cell and viral membranes, respectively, contain similar concentrations of trifluoperazine. Furthermore, 13-28% more trifluoperazine is necessary to achieve either effect at 4 degrees C or at 25 degrees C than at 37 degrees C. Changes in the surface activity of trifluoperazine do not explain these results, insofar as the critical micellar concentration of (0.75 mM) and maximal reduction in surface tension by (40 dyn/cm) trifluoperazine are the same at 25 degrees C and 37 degrees C. The fluorescence of viral tryptophan decreases by approx. 25% when viral hemolysis is inactivated by trifluoperazine, by trypsin treatment or by heating at 100 degrees C for 5 min.