Antiviral activity and its mechanism of guanine 7-N-oxide on DNA and RNA viruses derived from salmonid.

Guanine 7-N-oxide produced by Streptomyces sp. was found to inhibit in vitro the replication of herpes virus (Oncorhynchus masou virus, OMV), rhabdo virus (infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus, IHNV) and a bi-segmented double-strand virus (infectious pancreatic necrosis virus, IPNV) derived from salmonids with IC50 values of about 10 micrograms/ml, 20 micrograms/ml and 32 micrograms/ml, respectively. The agent was not toxic for the host cells (chinook salmon embryo, CHSE-214) at the IC50 concentrations. Labeling of IHNV viral RNA and host cellular DNA and RNA with [3H]uridine and [3H]thymidine during drug treatment showed that guanine 7-N-oxide did not reduce the incorporation of these precusors into RNA and DNA. The anti-IHNV activity of guanine 7-N-oxide was enhanced synergistically by neplanocin A, an inhibitor of RNA methylation. The mechanism of action of guanine 7-N-oxide is discussed, in regard to maturation of viral messenger RNA including capping.