The effect of polyanions and polycations on Mengo virus--l cell interaction

The Antibiotic Neomycin Enhances Coxsackievirus Plaque Formation

Coxsackievirus typically infects humans via the gastrointestinal tract, which has a large number of microorganisms collectively referred to as the microbiota. To study how the intestinal microbiota influences enteric virus infection, several groups have used an antibiotic regimen in mice to deplete bacteria. These studies have shown that bacteria promote infection with several enteric viruses. However, very little is known about whether antibiotics influence viruses in a microbiota-independent manner. In this study, we sought to determine the effects of antibiotics on coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) using an in vitro cell culture model in the absence of bacteria. We determined that an aminoglycoside antibiotic, neomycin, enhanced the plaque size of CVB3 strain Nancy. Neomycin treatment did not alter viral attachment, translation, or replication. However, we found that the positive charge of neomycin and other positively charged compounds enhanced viral diffusion by overcoming the negative inhibitory effect of sulfated polysaccharides present in agar overlays. Neomycin and the positively charged compound protamine also enhanced plaque formation of reovirus. Overall, these data provide further evidence that antibiotics can play noncanonical roles in viral infections and that this should be considered when studying enteric virus-microbiota interactions.IMPORTANCE Coxsackieviruses primarily infect the gastrointestinal tract of humans, but they can disseminate systemically and cause severe disease. Using antibiotic treatment regimens to deplete intestinal microbes in mice, several groups have shown the bacteria promote infection with a variety of enteric viruses. However, it is possible that antibiotics have microbiota-independent effects on viruses. Here we show that an aminoglycoside antibiotic, neomycin, can influence quantification of coxsackievirus in cultured cells in the absence of bacteria.

Antiretroviral activity in a marine red alga: reverse transcriptase inhibition by an aqueous extract of Schizymenia pacifica

An aqueous extract from the marine red alga, Schizymenia pacifica has been tested in a cell free system for its effect on reverse transcriptase from avian retrovirus (avian myeloblastosis virus), and mammalian retrovirus (Rauscher murine leukemia virus). The extract inhibited reverse transcriptase from both these retroviruses but showed almost no effect, if any, on the activity of cellular DNA polymerase alpha and RNA polymerase II in vitro. Consequently it is unlikely to have an adverse effect on the growth of cultured cell. The inhibitory activity of the extract was stable over a relatively wide pH range (pH 1-11) and was not lost after pronase digestion. Inhibitory activity of the extract was lost after boiling at 100 degrees C in 0.67 N HCl, and after treatment with 100 mM NaIO4. The active principle in the extract has an apparent molecular weight in excess of 100,000 daltons. This new reverse transcriptase inhibitor is probably a polysaccharide.