ANTIVIRAL ACTIVITY OF THE PHOTOACTIVE THIOPHENE α‐TERTHIENYL

The naturally occurring thiophene, α‐terthienyl, was investigated for phototoxicity against several viruses and a line of mouse cells. The compound was extremely phototoxic to the two‐membrane‐containing animal viruses, murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) and Sindbis virus (SV). Antiviral activity was detected at 105μg/m in the presence of UVA. However, no effect was seen in the absence of UV‐A, even at 0.1 μg/m of αT. Mouse cells were much more resistant to αT, as was the bacterial virus T4, which does not contain a membrane. Murine CMV, which had been inactivated by αT and UVA, penetrated mouse cells efficiently; but the viral DNA could not replicate, and late viral proteins were not made. Thus viral gene expression was inhibited in the photoinactivated virus. In order to account for all these data we suggest that αT may interact with viral proteins in addition to membrane lipids.