Inhibition of DNA synthesis in relation to enhanced survival of UV-damaged herpes virus in monkey cells treated by a variety of 2-nitronaphthofurans.

Various 2-nitronaphthofuran derivatives (related to each other by simple structural modifications) were tested for 2 different effects in CV-1 monkey kidney cell cultures: the immediate inhibition of normal DNA synthesis and the capacity of pretreated cultures (40 h of contact) to support the replication of UV-damaged Herpes simplex virus (HSV). For all compounds tested, a fair correlation was found between their efficiencies to inhibit cellular DNA synthesis and to provoke an increase in UV-HSV production (virus reactivation). Virus reactivation was due to an increase in both the number of virus-producing cells and the amount of infectious particles produced per cell. The most efficient 2-nitronaphthofurans (particularly 2-nitro-7-methoxy-naphtho[2,1-b]furan-R 7000) were at least as potent as aflatoxin B1 in inducing virus reactivation.