INHIBITION OF POLIOVIRUS REPLICATION BY A PLANT ANTIVIRAL PEPTIDE *

Treatment of poliovirus with the antiviral protein isolated from Phytolacca americana resulted in as much as 96% inhibition of subsequent release of infectious virus from HeLa cells. The inhibitor can be quantitatively removed from poliovirus by centrifugation through a sucrose solution. These washed viruses were not inactivated by their prior treatment with the peptide nor does the peptide block attachment of labeled poliovirus to HeLa cells. In the absence of virus the peptide was not cytotoxic for HeLa cells and had no detectable effect on the rate of protein synthesis. However, protein synthesis was reduced in cells infected with virus treated with the peptide compared with cells infected with untreated virus. It is suggested that the mechanism of the antiviral activity of the peptide involves its transport into intact cells by the virus followed by inactivation of host cell ribosomes.

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