Raina A, Tuomi K, Mäntyjärvi R
Med Biol. 1981 Dec;59(5-6):428-32.
Several animal viruses are known to contain significant amounts of polyamines but so far the function of these viral components is poorly understood. In this study the role of polyamines in the replication of two different types of viruses, herpes simplex virus type 2 and Semliki Forest virus (SFV) has been investigated. Purified SFV was found to contain fairly small amounts of polyamines, sufficient to neutralize only about 3% of viral nucleic acid phosphate, i.e., 1/20 of that found in herpes simplex virus. The production of both viruses was, however, markedly inhibited in BHK21 cells depleted of polyamines by treatment with alpha-difluoromethylornithine, a specific inhibitor of polyamine synthesis. This inhibition was reversed by putrescine, spermidine and spermine, and at least partly reversed by several other diamines and polyamine homologs. The activity of viral RNA polymerase induced by SFV infection was markedly reduced in polyamine-depleted cells but increased rapidly after addition of spermidine to the culture medium. It appears that the inhibition of virus production in polyamine-depleted cells is due in part to malfunction of protein synthetic machinery of the host cell. The possibility that other steps in virus synthesis and assembly are affected by polyamine deficiency is currently being investigated.
已知几种动物病毒含有大量的多胺，但迄今为止，这些病毒成分的功能仍知之甚少。在本研究中，对多胺在两种不同类型病毒，即2型单纯疱疹病毒和辛德毕斯病毒（SFV）复制中的作用进行了研究。发现纯化的SFV含有相当少量的多胺，仅足以中和约3%的病毒核酸磷酸盐，即仅为单纯疱疹病毒中发现量的1/20。然而，在用α-二氟甲基鸟氨酸（一种多胺合成的特异性抑制剂）处理后，多胺被耗尽的BHK21细胞中这两种病毒的产生均受到明显抑制。腐胺、亚精胺和精胺可逆转这种抑制作用，几种其他二胺和多胺同系物也至少部分地逆转了这种抑制作用。在多胺被耗尽的细胞中，由SFV感染诱导的病毒RNA聚合酶活性明显降低，但在向培养基中添加亚精胺后迅速增加。看来，多胺被耗尽的细胞中病毒产生的抑制部分是由于宿主细胞蛋白质合成机制的功能失调。目前正在研究病毒合成和组装的其他步骤是否受多胺缺乏影响的可能性。
