Summary
Calcium channel blockers reduce Ca++ flux through membrane channels and may inhibit intracellular Ca++-dependent synthetic and regulatory activities by binding to calmodulin. We have found that Verapamil, a calcium channel blocker, inhibits influenza virus replication in Madin-Darby canine kidney cells and in murine pulmonary macrophages and that this antiviral effect occurs with drug addition late in the replication cycle. Chlorpromazine, a drug which binds to calmodulin, also inhibited influenza virus replication in these tissue culture systems. We suggest that Verapamil and chlorpromazine inhibit influenza virus replication by interfering with calmodulin-dependent intracellular activities necessary for late synthetic steps or virus assembly steps and that calcium channel blockers provide a new probe for investigating influenza virus replication.
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Nugent, K.M., Shanley, J.D. Verapamil inhibits influenza A virus replication. Archives of Virology 81, 163–170 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01309305
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01309305