Inhibition of the herpes simplex virus-coded thymidine kinase-complex by 9-beta-D-arabinofuranosyladenine 5'-monophosphate (ara-AMP) and 9-(2-hydroxyethoxymethyl)guanine-monophosphate (acyclo-GMP).

The thymidine kinase-complex isolated from herpes simplex virus type 1 and type 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2) is associated with the following enzyme activities:ATP:dThd (dCyd) deoxypyrimidine kinase, ATP:dTMP thymidylate kinase, ADP:dThd- and AMP:dThd 5'-phosphotransferase. In kinetic experiments it is shown that ara-AMP inhibits AMP:dThd- and ADP:dThd phosphotransferase activity, while acyclo-GMP impairs ADP:dThd phosphotransferase reaction only; the inhibition was found to be non-competitive. The functional subunit ATP:dThd kinase was not affected by either compound.