Inhibitory Effects of Bacteriophage Preparations on Adenoviral Replication.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses of bacteria. Escherichia coli phage (T4) can potentially interfere with adsorption of HAdV-5 to cellular integrins by its KGD motif, while staphylococcal A5/80 phage does not possess this structure. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of T4 and A5/80 phage preparations on type 5 human adenovirus (HAdV-5) DNA synthesis and the expression of HAdV-5 genes. METHODS: Experiments were performed on the A549 cell line. HAdV-5 DNA synthesis was investigated with real-time PCR. Expression of HAdV-5 early (DBP) and late (hexon) genes was determined by quantitative real-time PCR in preincubation and coincubation experiments. RESULTS: While both phage preparations significantly reduced the expression of HAdV-5 genes, synthesis of HAdV-5 DNA was inhibited only by T4. CONCLUSION: Phage preparations show promise as novel antiviral agents. However, further studies are required to investigate their antiviral effects.