Antiviral Action Mechanisms of a Synthetic GM-CSF Active-Center Peptide

We assessed the antiviral activity of a synthetic GM-CSF active-center peptide against a number of RNA- and DNA-containing viruses, both enveloped and nonenveloped. We evaluated the antiviral activity in vitro and in vivo against parainfluenza virus type 3 (strain Vok) and adenovirus serotype 3 (strain 3/Voronezh/2174/82) in a continuous culture of human laryngeal carcinoma HEp-2 cells. Virucidal activity was evaluated against human adenovirus type 5, Coxsackievirus B3, Echovirus 30 virus, influenza virus A/Puerto Rico/8/34 (H1N1), human parainfluenza virus type 3, herpes simplex virus type 1, OC43 coronavirus, and human cytomegalovirus propagated in various permissive cell lines. The peptide exhibited a stronger prophylactic effect than the ZP2 peptide preparation and showed preferential activity against enveloped RNA viruses. We detected no cytotoxic effect of ZP2 on HEp-2 cells in vitro.