Molecular Pharmacology, Vol 11, 153-158, Copyright © 1975 by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics

Selective Inhibition of the Replication of Herpes Simplex Virus by 5-Halogenated Analogues of Deoxycytidine

¹ Departments of Microbiology and Biochemistry, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33152

5-Bromodeoxycytidine and 5-iododeoxycytidine inhibited the replication of herpes simplex virus as effectively as did 5-bromodeoxyuridine and 5-iododeoxyuridine. However, the 5-halogenated analogues of deoxycytidine were 10-100 times less toxic to uninfected cells than the 5-halogenated analogues of deoxyuridine. The selective action of the halogenated analogues of deoxycytidine appears to be the result of a virus-induced pyrimidine nucleoside kinase, which converts the halogenated analogues of deoxycytidine to halogenated analogues of deoxycytidylate. These results indicate that the 5-halogenated analogues of deoxycytidine are more selective inhibitors of herpes simplex virus replication than the 5-halogenated analogues of deoxyuridine.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT We wish to acknowledge the competent technical assistance of Jean Zegadlo.