Abstract
Purpose: :
The surface of adenovirus consists of hexon and fiber proteins. In adenoviral conjunctivitis, infection process starts by attachment of the adenoviral fibers to conjunctival epithelial cells with adenoviral receptors. Osteopontin (OPN) contains the arginine–glycine–asparate (RGD)–binding motif that is common to adenoviral receptors such as CAR (Coxsackie’s and adenovirus receptor) and integrins. Anti–OPN peptide is a fibronectin peptide which may inhibit both CAR and integrins. In addition to anti–OPN peptide, interferon (IFN)–beta has also been considered to act as a receptor antagonist against adenovirus. In this study, we evaluated in vitro the anti–adenoviral effect of these two receptor inhibiting agents: anti–OPN peptide and IFN–beta.
Methods: :
In this study, A549 cells were used for viral cell culture and adenovirus types 3, 4, 8, 19 and 37 were used. After calculating the CC50 of each agent, adenovirus was cultivated with the agents for seven days under a series of dilutions estimated from CC50. Adenoviral DNA was quantitatively measured by real–time PCR. Since these two agents were expected to inhibit adenoviral attachment step at a lower temperature, the two agents were initially incubated at 4ºC for 90 minutes before incubation at 37ºC for seven days to simulate the physiological condition
Results: :
Both anti–OPN peptide and IFN–beta showed inhibitory effect against adenoviral proliferation in a dose–dependent manner. IFN–beta demonstrated stronger anti–adenoviral effect than anti–OPN peptide especially in adenovirus types 4 and 8.
Conclusions: :
The experimental result suggested that adenoviral receptor antagonists possess anti–adenoviral effect in vitro. Further evaluation is necessary to analyze especially the temperature dependency of these agents to confirm clinical usefulness in the treatment of adenoviral conjunctivitis.
Keywords: adenovirus • antiviral drugs • conjunctivitis