Kraus G A, Pratt D, Tossberg J, Carpenter S
Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, Ames 50011.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1990 Oct 15;172(1):149-53. doi: 10.1016/s0006-291x(05)80185-8.
Hypericin and pseudohypericin are naturally occurring polycyclic quinones which have recently been shown to inhibit the infectivity of several retroviruses, including human immunodeficiency virus. To better understand the antiviral mechanisms of these compounds, hypericin and a series of analogous quinones were synthesized and tested for anti-retroviral activity against equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV). Treatment of EIAV-infected cells with hypericin reduced the production of infectious virus by 99.99%. None of the analogs were found to inhibit virus replication. These results suggest that the complete ring structure of hypericin is required, but not sufficient, for antiviral activity.
