INVESTIGATION OF THE MECHANISMS OF ANTIVIRAL EFFECT OF A BORAADAMANTANE DERIVATIVE, PREPARATION BG-12

The effect of one of the derivatives of boraadamantane, preparation BG -12, on reproduction of influenza type A and B viruses was studied. Th is preparation was shown to inhibit multiplication of a wide range of influenza type A and B virus strains. It is important that BG-12 inhib its in cell culture the replication of a mutant of fowl plague virus A /FPV/Weibridge resistant to remantadine. BG-12 was found to exert a ma rked viricidal effect, to inhibit the hemolytic activity of both influ enza A and influenza B viruses, but not the neuraminidase activity of these viruses. The synthesis of some virus-specific proteins was found to be disturbed in influenza B/Ann Arbor/86-infected cells in the pre sence of BG-12. A FPV(BAR) mutant of influenza A/FPV/Weibridge (H7N7) virus resistant to BG-12 was obtained. All the BG-12-resistant reassor tants inherited genes 4 and 7 coding for hemagglutinin (HA) and membra ne proteins (M) from FPV(BAR) mutant, respectively, and the remaining genes from BG-12-sensitive A/Krasnodar/101/59 (H2N2) virus. The sequen cing of a region of the M gene encoding for the transmembrane protein M2 revealed the substitution of Ala30-Thre in this protein. Multiple a ttempts at generating a mutant of influenza type B virus resistant to BG-12 failed.