Nitric Oxide Inhibits the Replication Cycle of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus
Sara Åkerström, Mehrdad Mousavi-Jazi,Jonas Klingström, Mikael Leijon,Åke Lundkvist, Ali Mirazimi
DOI: 10.1128/JVI.79.3.1966-1969.2005
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ABSTRACT
Nitric oxide (NO) is an important signaling molecule between cells which has been shown to have an inhibitory effect on some virus infections. The purpose of this study was to examine whether NO inhibits the replication cycle of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS CoV) in vitro. We found that an organic NO donor, S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine, significantly inhibited the replication cycle of SARS CoV in a concentration-dependent manner. We also show here that NO inhibits viral protein and RNA synthesis. Furthermore, we demonstrate that NO generated by inducible nitric oxide synthase, an enzyme that produces NO, inhibits the SARS CoV replication cycle.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which is associated with a novel coronavirus (CoV), was first identified during fall 2002 in Guangdong Province, China (24, 32, 34). The mortality rate of SARS appears to range from 6 to 55% (12, 20, 21). Coronaviruses are enveloped single-stranded positive-sense RNA viruses with genomes of about 27 to 30 kb (21). Coronaviruses belong to the family Coronaviridae, in which SARS CoV forms a distinct group within the genus Coronavirus (9, 29).