A NEW CLASS OF ANTIVIRALS - ANTISENSE OLIGONUCLEOTIDES COMBINED WITH A HYDROPHOBIC SUBSTITUENT EFFECTIVELY INHIBIT INFLUENZA-VIRUS REPRODUCTION AND SYNTHESIS OF VIRUS-SPECIFIC PROTEINS IN MDCK CELLS

To enhance the penetration of oligonucleotide ('oligo') into cells, the oligo was combined with the hydrophobic undecyl residue. Using the 'DNA-synthesator', we synthesized oligo, complementary to the loop-forming site of the RNA, encoding polymerase 3 of the influenza virus (type A), and combined it with the undecyl residue added to the 5' terminal phosphate group. It was found that the modified oligo effectively suppresses the influenza A/PR8/34 (H1N1) virus reproduction and inhibits the synthesis of virus-specific proteins in MDCK cells. Under the same conditions, the non-modified antisense oligo and modified nonsense oligo did not affect the virus development. © 1990.