Antiherpetic activities of N-alpha-acetyl-nona-D-arginine amide acetate.

N-alpha-acetyl-nona-D-arginine amide acetate (ALX40-4C) was developed as a competitive inhibitor of the binding of the HIV Tat protein to its RNA target TAR, which is an intracellular interaction dependent on a short, arginine-rich sequence in Tat. ALX40-4C is a simple mimic of that domain, which is stabilised against enzymatic degradation through inclusion of D-amino acids and terminal protection. The drug inhibits HIV-1 in vitro and is currently being assessed in vivo. In the work reported here, potential activities of the compound against other viruses were examined. As expected, there was little or no activity against most viruses examined, except against some herpesviruses: HSV-1, HSV-2 and CMV. Maximal inhibition of HSV-1 in a plaque reduction assay required pre-incubation with the drug. Maximal inhibition of HCMV, which replicates more slowly than HSV-1, requires exposure to the compound within the first few hours of infection. It appears that the drug inhibits an early step in HSV and HCMV infection. Such a mechanism is consistent with that of other cationic, herpesvirus inhibitors.

Response of adult human volunteers to oral administration of bovine and bovine/human reassortant rotaviruses.

Small groups of adult volunteers, in sequence, were inoculated orally with inactivated purified bovine rotavirus of strain NCDV, with live NCDV purified or unpurified and with two different NCDV X human rotavirus reassortant viruses. One of five volunteers given 200 micrograms of ultravioletinactivated NCDV developed a virus-neutralizing (VN) and a binding antibody response detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Four of 10 volunteers given from 1 X 10(6) to 1 X 10(8) p.f.u. of live NCDV developed VN antibody, but nine of 10 responded when ELISA, HAI and radioimmuno-precipitation tests for serum antibody were also considered. Two different NCDV X human serotype 1 Wa strain virus reassortants, each containing Wa gene segment 9 and the serotype 1 neutralization phenotype, were administered orally in doses up to 10(6) p.f.u. The reassortants were relatively ineffective in eliciting a serum antibody response at the dosage level employed.

Epidemiology of rotavirus electropherotypes determined by a simplified diagnostic technique with RNA analysis.

The incidence and RNA electropherotypes of rotavirus in stools or rectal swabs of children with diarrhea were studied for three rotavirus seasons (1981 through 1984) in Philadelphia, Pa. We used a simplified RNA analysis method involving polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by silver staining. Phosphate-buffered saline suspensions of the stools and swab eluates were examined directly by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis-silver staining analysis and enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay (Rotazyme; Abbott Laboratories); electron microscopy was performed on solid stool specimens. The RNA analysis results were compared with electron microscopy and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay results and exhibited a sensitivity and specificity greater than or equal to that of electron microscopy or the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Ten different electropherotypes were detected among the 68 rotavirus RNA-positive specimens examined over the 3-year study. The predominant electropherotype was different in each season. Our results indicate that the polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis-silver nitrate strain RNA analysis of simple unextracted stool suspensions is a uniquely useful diagnostic technique; it rapidly provides both a definitive positive result and immediate determination of the RNA electropherotype, which is of value for epidemiological study.

Propagation of rotaviruses in the presence of chicken serum.

The ability of mammalian rotaviruses to replicate in BSC-1 and CV-1 cell cultures was facilitated by the presence of 4% chicken serum. Viral plaques tended to be larger and appear more quickly than in cultures without added chicken serum. It is proposed that chicken serum facilitates plaquing of rotavirus due to its lack of trypsin inhibitors.

The cultivation of human rotavirus, strain 'Wa', to high titer in cell culture and characterization of the viral structural polypeptides.

The structural proteins of the 'Wa' (serotype 2) strain of human rotavirus have not been described previously. Single-cycle virus growth in MA-104 cells using 5 micrograms/ml of trypsin in the growth medium was rapid with maximal viral yields (approximately 10(6) PFU/ml) obtained 10-12 h post-infection. There was a continuous progression of cytopathic effect (CPE) from 6- to 5-h post-infection. Under conditions of multiple-cycle growth, a greater concentration of trypsin (40 micrograms/ml) in the growth medium was required to obtain rapid progression of CPE and production of a high titer (approximately 10(7) PFU/ml) of infectious (double-shelled) virus. Single- and double-shelled virions were separated by isopycnic centrifugation in CsCl and analyzed by SDS-PAGE. Five proteins with molecular weights of 116,000, 92,000, 88,000, 84,000 and 41,000 were identified as components of the inner shell and four proteins with molecular weights of 60,000, 38,000, 32,000 and 27,000 were located in the outer shell.

Integration pattern of hepatitis B virus DNA sequences in human hepatoma cell lines.

Four human hepatoma cell lines established from primary hepatocellular carcinomas were examined for the presence of hepatitis B virus DNA sequences. Reassociation kinetic analysis indicated that the cell lines HEp-3B 217, HEp-3B 14, HEp-3B F1, and PLC/PRF/5 contained two, one, one, and four genome equivalents per cell, respectively. Southern blot hybridization analysis demonstrated that hepatitis B virus DNA was integrated into the cellular DNAs of these cell lines. Further liquid hybridization studies with 32P-labeled HincII restriction fragments of hepatitis B virus DNA established that DNA sequences from all regions of the HBV genome were represented in the integrated viral sequences. Although the three HEp-3B cell lines were derived from the same tumor, they differed significantly in their patterns of integration of hepatitis B virus DNA, the number of copies of viral DNA per cell, and their ability to produce the virus-coded surface antigen.