Inhibition of HIV-1 replication by newly developed adamantane-containing polyanionic agents.

Newly developed antiviral compounds consisting of an adamantane derivative chemically linked to a water-soluble polyanionic matrix were shown to inhibit HIV-1 infection in lymphoblastoid cells, HeLa CD4+ beta-galactosidase (MAGI) cells and macrophages. The effect of the compounds was recorded by measuring viral reverse transcriptase activity and p24 by ELISA in culture supernatant and by immunoblotting of cell lysates. In this paper we describe the data obtained with one of the most promising compounds, Amant. Amant was not toxic for the host cells at concentrations as high as 1 mg/ml. The inhibition of HIV-1 replication in MT-4 and MAGI cells was observed when Amant was added either before infection or with the virus (0 h of infection), and was expressed even when the compound added at 0 h was removed 1.5 h after infection. Its inhibitory concentration (IC50) against HIV-1 and HIV-2 replication was 2-6 and 93 microg/ml, respectively. The anti-HIV-1 effect of the compound was gradually decreased when it was added 1 and 2 h post infection, and no inhibition was observed when the compound was added 4 h after infection, suggesting that the compound as a membranotropic drug blocks an early step of replication. It completely prevented the transport of Gag proteins into the nuclei. Pretreatment of the virus with Amant did not reduce its infectious activity. The classical adamantane derivatives amantadine and rimantadine hydrochloride did not inhibit HIV replication.

[Formation of virus-like particles by HIV-1 Gag proteins, expressed by a recombinant vaccinia virus]. / Obrazovanie virusopodobnykh chastits belkov Gag VICh-1, ékspressiruemym rekombinantnym virusom ospovaktsiny.

Monkey kidney cells CV-1 were infected with recombinant vaccinia virus carrying HIV-1 gag gene with a deletion of 230 nucleotide pairs from the 3'-terminus. The main gene product detected in the lysates of infected cells was the gag precursor rp50. The protein was accumulated on the cell membranes suggesting that it had a myristylated N-terminus, and was cleaved by a recombinant virus specific protease with the formation of two proteins, p17 and p24 corresponding in molecular masses to mature gag proteins. Virus-like particles similar to immature HIV virions were budding from the surface of infected cells. They look like the ring of optically dense material covered with a lipid bilayer, of the same size (100-120 nm) and of the same density in a sucrose gradient (1.16-1.18 g/ml) as HIV-1 virions. The particles contained rp50 and cellular heterogeneous RNA. Thus, the unprocessed gag precursor with deleted 77 amino acid residues from the C-terminus is able to form virus-like particles in the absence of env proteins and virus-specific RNA, and these particles are budding from the cell surface. The question about the use of extracellular Gag-particles for AIDS diagnostic work and construction of vaccines is discussed.