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

Aurintricarboxylic acid (ATA) is a polyaromatic carboxylic acid derivative [17] that inhibits nucleases [18] and nucleic acid processing enzymes [19] . ATA has been shown to inhibit replication of human immunodeficiency [19, 20] and vesicular stomatitis [17] viruses. More recently, we found that ATA could inhibit the severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) [21] and vaccinia virus [22] . Here, we report that ATA can substantially inhibit the replication of several strains of influenza A viruses and one-type B virus in tissue cultures with moderate cytotoxicity. We further investigated the combinational effects of ATA and amantadine hydrochloride, an M2 blocker, on the replication of influenza viruses. Finally, we found that ATA inhibits influenza neuraminidase, possibly elucidating its antiinfluenza mechanism of action.