Aurintricarboxylic Acid Is a Potent Inhibitor of Influenza A and B Virus Neuraminidases

Hashem, Anwar M.; Flaman, Anathea S.; Farnsworth, Aaron; Brown, Earl G.; Van Domselaar, Gary; He, Runtao; Li, Xuguang

Since an ELISA measures both infectious and non-infectious particles, we determined whether ATA treatment specifically reduces the abundance of infectious particles. Cells were infected with PR8, then exposed to ATA or other previously established anti-influenza agents, AH, an M2 blocker or NAA, a neuraminidase inhibitor. Virus titres, of both the cell lysate and supernatant fraction, were determined by plaque assay. ATA treatment significantly reduced both the cell-associated and extracellular virus yields when compared to either AH or NAA (Table 1) . Moreover, when ATA was included in the maintenance media in a plaque reduction assay with cells infected with either influenza A or B viruses, it reduced both the number and size of plaques (data not shown). Taken together, these data suggest that ATA is a potent inhibitor of influenza A and B viruses.