Development of a
Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Agent with Activity Against
Herpesvirus Replication and Gene Expression
Wen-Jun Shi, Han-Xiao
Sun*, Xue-Mei Mo, Shi-Yu Li, Xiu-Ying Li, Guang Zhang
and Hong-Ai Liu
Institute of Genomic
Medicine, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University,
Guangzhou, 510632, China
*For correspondence:
Email:
sunhanxiao5@gmail.com
Received: 1 December 2012 Revised
accepted: 19 June 2013
Tropical Journal of
Pharmaceutical Research, August 2013; 12(4): 541-547
http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/tjpr.v12i4.15
Abstract
Purpose: To evaluate the
broad-spectrum antiviral activity of peptide H9 (H9) in
vitro in order to gain insight into its underlying
molecular mechanisms.
Method: Antiviral activity against
Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) was determined using
thiazolyl blue (MTT) assay. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
was employed to assay H9 antiviral activity against
human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV).
The inhibitory effect of H9 on the replication of these
viral genes including early genes was assayed by real
time-Ppolymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western
blot.
Results:
H9 possessed significant
inhibitory effect on the four different herpesviruses
with 50 % inhibitory concentration (IC50) of
1.21 ng/mL (HSV-1). AD169 infection was strongly
inhibited with an EC50 value of 0.46 ng/ml.
The anti-herpesviral activity of H9 was dose-dependent.
The peptide acted primarily during the early stage of
infection by detection of the early
genes.
Conclusion: The results demonstrate
that H9 can inhibit the infection of HSV-1, EBV and HCMV.
Furthermore, H9 has a broad-spectrum anti-herpesviral
effect in vitro based on targeted killing of infected
cells expressing genes.
Keywords:
Antagonist,
Trapping receptor/ligand, Broad-spectrum, Anti-herpesvirus,
H9 peptide, Gene expression
