The effect of 5'-amino-5'-deoxythymidine on the pattern of polyadenylation of herpes simplex virus type 1 ribonucleic acid.

Treatment of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infected Vero cells with 5'-amino-5'-deoxythymidine (AdThd) causes a 65% reduction in the amount of total viral RNA present at late times of infection. This decrease is apparent as early as 6 hours post infection, affecting the levels of viral cytoplasmic polyadenylated (poly(A+] species to a greater extent than non-polyadenylated (poly(A-] RNA. Cytoplasmic viral poly(A+) RNA is present in AdThd-treated cultures at only 10% control poly(A+) levels, yet there is no evidence of a direct inhibition of RNA polyadenylation. Underrepresentation of RNA species in the cytoplasm is not sequence-specific. The results suggest that the antiviral activity of AdThd may involve not only incorporation into viral DNA, with a resultant decrease in viral transcription, but also perturbation of the relative amounts of viral poly(A+) RNA and poly(A-) RNA.