pppA2'p5A' blocks vesicular stomatitis virus replication in intact cells.

pppA2'p5'A blocked the production of infectious vesicular stomatitis virus in HeLa cells. When this compound was present from the beginning of infection, a selective inhibitory effect was observed in viral protein synthesis. Thus, cellular translation was not affected even after 10 h of incubation with this compound, and the bulk of viral proteins was not synthesized. However, this effect was not observed with ATP, GTP, or the core A2'p5'A. The step blocked by pppA2'p5'A is located early during virus infection, but adsorption, entry, and virus uncoating seemed to be unaffected by this compound. Analysis of the antiviral spectrum of pppA2'p5'A indicated that it is active against poliovirus, encephalomyocarditis virus, and Semliki Forest virus and shows no effect against herpes simplex virus type 1 and adenovirus type 5.