[Inhibition of the reproduction of strains of the herpes simplex virus type 1 with drug resistance]. / Ingibirovanie reproduktsii shtammov virusa gerpesa prostogo tipa 1 s lekarstvennoi ustoichivost'iu.

Inhibition of type-1 herpes simplex strains resistant to acyclovir, phosphonoacetic acid and their combination by combined use of three drugs with different mechanisms of action capable of suppressing reproduction of the acyclovir resistant strain was studied. The combinations used were the following: Ara-A + ribavirin + phosphonoformic acid, Xylo-A + ribavirin + phosphonoformic acid and Ph-ACH + Ara-A + ribavirin. The former two combinations had a synergistic action on the standard strain L2 whose drug susceptibility had not undergone changes as well as on the acyclovir resistant strain. As for the strain resistant to phosphonoacetic acid and to acyclovir + phosphonoacetic acid the effect was additive. Ph-ACH + Ara-A + ribavirin had a marked synergistic action on all the strains tested.

Apoptosis induced by inhibitors of nucleotide synthesis in deoxyadenosine-resistant leukemia L1210 cells that lack p53 expression.

An L1210 cell line (Y8) selected for resistance to deoxyadenosine contains ribonucleotide reductase that is not subject to inhibition by dATP. In addition, the Y8 cells have other phenotypic expressions that include increased sensitivity to apoptosis induced by various agents such as radiation, doxorubicin, anisomycin and roscovitine. The Y8 cells were found to be more sensitive to apoptosis induced by methotrexate (MTX), tiazofurin (TZ), deoxyguanosine (dGuo) and N-(phosphonoacetyl)-L-aspartate (PALA). Deoxyguanosine, at concentrations that did not cause apoptosis in the Y8 cells, prevented the apoptotic response of the Y8 cells to MTX and TZ. Deoxycytidine had no effect. Since caspase-3 activation is involved in apoptotic pathways, the effects of the caspase-3 inhibitor, Ac-DEVD-CHO, were studied on the dGuo-, MTX- or TZ-induced apoptosis in the Y8 cells. Ac-DEVD-CHO caused a marked decrease in the fraction of cells in the early phase of apoptosis. However, there was a corresponding increase in the fraction of cells in the late apoptotic/necrotic stages of cell death. This is in marked contrast to the dGuo-induced decrease in apoptosis seen in the MTX- and TZ-treated Y8 cells in which there were no increases in the late apoptotic/necrotic fraction of cells. These data show that alterations of nucleotide pools in the Y8 cells cause marked increases in the apoptotic response which may indicate that the Y8 cells are much more susceptible to the effects of misincorporation of nucleotides into DNA than are the parental WT L1210 cells.

Synthesis and applications of phosphonoacetic derivatives.

In this paper, the synthesis of new phosphonoacetic acid derivatives and their applications in fields of biotechnological interest are discussed. Phosphonoacetic acids are competitive inhibitors of alkaline phosphatase, an enzyme widely used in diagnostics, as colorimetric detection tool. The phosphonoacetic acid's inhibition activity has been exploited by us for the obtainment of an innovative technique for non-radioactive DNA probes detection, the last being based on DNA labeling with the enzyme inhibitor, followed by detection by means of the chromogenic enzyme and substrate. Moreover, we have found a further application of phosphonoacetic acids, by the preparation of an affinity chromatography support that has been revealed to be very effective in the purification of alkaline phosphatase. Finally, phosphonoacetic acid derivatives have been tested also for their antiviral activity. Some of them, examined in preliminary in vitro experiments, have been found very active against Herpes simplex virus.

Heterotypic and homotypic re-inoculation of mice already latently infected with herpes simplex virus type 1.

Mice were infected at 4 weeks of age with a type 1 strain of herpes simplex virus (HSV) and re-infected 4 weeks later with either a type 1 or a type 2 strain of HSV. The virus used for first infection could be distinguished from that used later since it was resistant to phosphonoformic acid and formed syncytial plaques. Sites used for the second inoculation were as follows: at the site of primary infection, at a different site within the same dermatome or in the equivalent dermatome on the opposite side (also called "remote" site). Re-infection caused no detectable reactivation of the latent PFA resistant virus. After re-infection with a homotypic virus replication of the re-infecting virus was limited to the inoculation site. However after heterotypic re-infection the type 2 strain was occasionally isolated from the ganglia. Previous infection with the PFA resistant type 1 strain clearly reduced the ability of the homotypic or heterotypic strains to establish a latent infection. However, in a few animals ganglia were found to be latently infected with virus from both the first and second inoculations. Analysis of the results suggests that resistance to the establishment of a second latent infection in a ganglion is determined by the general immunity of the animal rather than "immunity" of the latently infected ganglion itself.

Phosphonoformate and phosphonoacetate derivatives of 5-substituted 2'-deoxyuridines: synthesis and antiviral activity.

The synthesis of potential "combined prodrugs" wherein phosphonoformate or phosphonoacetate was attached to the 5'-position of 2'-deoxyuridine, 2'-deoxythymidine, 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine (IDU), 5-(2-chloroethyl)-2'-deoxyuridine (CEDU), or 5-(2-bromovinyl)-2'-deoxyuridine (BVDU) or to the 3'-position of CEDU is described. The antiviral activities of these derivatives and of reference compounds were compared in Vero, HEp-2, and primary rabbit kidney cells against herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and -2). The CEDU and BVDU analogues were also evaluated against systemic and intracutaneous HSV-1 infection in mice. The nature of the 5-substituent proved critical for antiviral activity, since only the 5-iodo-, 5-(2-bromovinyl)-, and 5-(2-chloroethyl)-substituted derivatives were inhibitory to the herpesviruses. Furthermore, the type specificity is determined by the nature of the 5-substituent: the IDU analogues were similarly inhibitory to HSV-1 and -2 whereas the CEDU and BVDU analogues inhibited HSV-2 replication only at considerably higher concentrations than HSV-1. In vivo, several derivatives were shown to possess significant antiviral activity; however, none surpassed its respective parent compound, CEDU or BVDU, in potency. It seems improbable, therefore, that a synergistic effect between PFA or PAA and the nucleoside analogue occurred. The extent of in vitro and in vivo activity of the CEDU and BVDU 5'-phosphonoformates and 5'-phosphonoacetates is most plausibly explained by the ease by which the "combined prodrugs" are hydrolyzed and the parent compound, CEDU and BVDU, respectively, is released.

Single mutations at many sites within the DNA polymerase locus of herpes simplex viruses can confer hypersensitivity to aphidicolin and resistance to phosphonoacetic acid.

Aphidicolin, a tetracyclic diterpenoid which inhibits the DNA polymerase-alpha activities of many eukaryotic cells, inhibited herpes simplex virus growth and DNA synthesis in infected cultures and the activity of the virus DNA polymerase in vitro. A wide range of stable aphidicolin sensitivities was represented amongst a collection of virus strains with no prior exposure to this drug, but viruses with polymerase mutations selected for resistance to phosphonoacetic acid (PAA) or to acycloguanosine typically showed increased sensitivity to aphidicolin. Of 16 unrelated PAA-resistant variants, 7 were hypersensitive to aphidicolin. A number of mutants with temperature-sensitive (ts) lesions in the polymerase gene also showed increased aphidicolin sensitivity (e.g. HSV-1[mP17]tsH) or aphidicolin hypersensitivity (e.g. HSV-1[KOS]tsD9, tsC4). Resistance or hypersensitivity of virus growth and DNA synthesis in vivo were correlated with resistance or hypersensitivity of virus DNA polymerase reactions in vitro. Resistance phenotypes were closely linked to the polymerase gene during recombination with outside markers. Moreover, the selection of aphidicolin-resistant mutants from hypersensitive variants with independent PAA resistance or ts mutations in the polymerase gene could result in co-selection for PAA-sensitive and ts+ phenotypes. Confirmation that multiple independent mutations could determine aphidicolin hypersensitivity was obtained by studies of recombination between independent hypersensitive variants. Aphidicolin-resistant recombinant progeny were formed with recombination frequencies (0.4 to 2.6%) compatible with intragenic events. With parental hypersensitive variants which were products of limited PAA selection, or with the ts polymerase mutations, aphidicolin-resistant recombinants were PAA-sensitive and/or ts+. The segregation of other markers (ts, plaque morphology) amongst recombinant progeny permitted the orientation of multiple determinants of PAA resistance and aphidicolin hypersensitivity with respect to other markers in the polymerase gene and in other genes. The nature of residues determined at any one of a constellation of separate sites within the polymerase locus can determine resistance or sensitivity to antiviral drugs and aphidicolin hypersensitivity associated with changes at the polymerase locus facilitates high resolution genetic analysis of this locus.

[Isolation and characteristics of a mutant herpes simplex virus type 1 resistant to phosphonoacetic acid]. / Vydelenie i kharakteristika mutanta virusa gerpesa prostogo tipa 1, rezistentnogo k fosfonouksusnoi kislote.

By successive passages and triple cloning of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) in Vero cell culture in the presence of increasing concentrations of phosphonoacetic acid (PAA) a mutant of HSV-1 resistant to PAA (PAAr) was derived and characterized. The resistance to the inhibitor was transmitted from PAAr-mutant to a sensitive strain (L2) by recombination performed by the marker rescue method using DNA fragmented by Hpa-1 restrictase. The resulting recombinant (R-551) was resistant to the inhibitor and had an altered primary structure of DNA.

[Resistance of various herpes simplex virus strains to the action of chemical inhibitors]. / Izuchenie tsoichivosti razlichnykh shtammov virusov gerpesa prostogo k deistviiu khimicheskikh ingibitorov.

The effect of chemical inhibitors on reproduction of 2 laboratory and 3 vaccine strains of herpes simplex virus (HSV), types 1 and 2, was studied. By the time of the study the vaccine strains had undergone from 27 to 69 passages in chick embryo fibroblast cultures. All the vaccine strains (L2, Us, and VN) exhibited 100-1000 fold higher resistance to phosphonoacetic acid than did the laboratory F+ and G strains, and the vaccine L2 strain (HSV-1) was also 1000-fold resistant to 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosine thymine.

Neurotoxicity of the pyrimidine synthesis inhibitor N-phosphonoacetyl-L-aspartate.

PALA (N-phosphonoacetyl-L-aspartate) impairs de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis by inhibiting the enzyme aspartate transcarbamylase. During cancer chemotherapy trials the drug was given by weekly intravenous infusion. Seizures developed in 9 (11%) of the first 80 patients to receive a total dose of 9 gm/m2 or more. Seven of the affected patients had structural brain lesions; they developed seizures at a lower total dose (median of 16.4 gm/m2) than the 2 patients without clinically detectable brain lesions (115 to 130 gm/m2). Reversible encephalopathy was observed in 6 (7.5%) additional patients without clinically detectable cause other than PALA. Both seizures and encephalopathy began after the second dose of PALA or later. Experiments in rats demonstrated similar delayed-onset seizures after two or three combined systemic and intracerebral doses of PALA at 4-day intervals. Concurrent administration of uridine or carbamyl aspartate prevented the development of seizures in rats, indicating that pyrimidine starvation of the central nervous system was responsible for PALA neurotoxicity.