Morimoto M, Mori H, Otake T, Ueba N, Kunita N, Niwa M, Murakami T, Iwanaga S
Osaka Prefectural Institute of Public Health, Osaka, City University Medical School, Japan.
Chemotherapy. 1991;37(3):206-11. doi: 10.1159/000238855.
An antimicrobial peptide, tachyplesin I, isolated from hemocytes of the Japanese horseshoe crab (Tachypleus tridentatus) was examined for its inhibitory effects on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in vitro. At a concentration of 7.5 micrograms/ml, tachyplesin I suppressed the development of cytopathic effects (CPE) by more than 70% in MT-4 cells infected with HIV (lymphadenopathy-associated virus). This inhibitory effect was observed only when the drug was added during the adsorption period of the virus to the cells. In cocultures of MOLT-4 and persistently HIV-infected cells (MOLT-4/HIV), tachyplesin I at the same concentration completely inhibited multinucleated giant cell formation. Infectivity of HIV was reduced by 10(-2.5) in medium free from fetal calf serum containing tachyplesin I at a concentration of 200 micrograms/ml. Tachyplesin I did not show any inhibitory effect on reverse transcriptase activity of HIV at concentrations of 9-80 micrograms/ml at which tachyplesin I inhibited HIV infection. These results suggest that the anti-HIV action of tachyplesin I was due to the inhibition of virus adsorption.
