Organic compounds -- part of the class 532-570 series – Organic compounds – Carbohydrates or derivatives
Patent
1986-11-05
1989-08-22
Griffin, Ronald W.
Organic compounds -- part of the class 532-570 series
Organic compounds
Carbohydrates or derivatives
424 95, 514 25, 514 53, 514613, 514625, 536 11, 536 41, 536 54, 536 55, 536115, 536116, 536118, 536120, 536122, A61K 3170, A61K 3722, C07H 1500, G01N 3353
Patent
active
048597694
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to the use of certain compounds with virus-binding properties for the diagnosis, prophylaxis or treatment of viral infections, as well as antiviral agents and pharmaceutical compositions comprising these compounds.
Despite the extensive damage to animals, including human beings, and plants caused by viruses, no general rational therapy has yet been devised against viral infections comparable to, e.g., antibiotic treatment in the case of bacterial infections. Although, in certain cases, a prophylactic approach in the form of a vaccine causing immunization and, in most instances, producing resistance to re-infection for life has successfully been employed, it has not always been possible to develop a vaccine of a sufficiently broad applicability to be effective against a wide variety of strains of the same viral species; this, for instance, has been a problem with the influenza vaccines which have hitherto been devised, so that immunization has occurred against the specific strain on which the vaccine has been based, but not against other, closely related strains with slightly different antigenic properties.
In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the importance, for a variety of biological interactions, of so-called receptors. Receptors, which are often glycolipids or glycoproteins, that is, consist of a carbohydrate portion linked to a lipid or a protein, form integral parts of the plasma membrane of animal and plant cells, being located on the surface of the cell membrane of a wide variety of cells. Their function as specific receptors for a wide range of biological entities is extremely diverse. Due to their carbohydrate portion being exposed on the surface of the cell membrane, they may have antigenic properties or function as cell surface markers; they may confer structural rigidity to the outer monolayer of the membrane lipid bilayer; they may form part of a system for cell-cell interaction and recognition; or they may play a part in the interaction of the cell with bioactive factors such as bacterial toxins, glycoprotein hormones or microorganisms, anchoring these to the cell surface. For instance, it is known that there is a connection between such receptors and bacterial infections in that receptor analogues may be used to inhibit the bacterial adhesion necessary to effect an infection.
For a viral infection to become established, the viral genome has to penetrate into the host cell. For some membrane-enveloped (having a membrane around the nucleocapside) viruses, this process is known to involve a two-step mechanism, namely the sequential attachment to and penetration into the host cell (see reference 1; the list of references is given below in the section entitled "Bibliography"). It is known that the attachment is due to a receptor located on the surface of target cells for viral infection (see reference 3). It has commonly been assumed that the penetration step is a logical consequence of the attachment, producing spontaneous fusion at the surface membrane or penetration after receptor-mediated endocytosis. In some cases, a second interaction has been considered, but this is of a less specific kind than the attachment, mainly a hydrophobic interaction with the membrane interior (see reference 2). In the course of the research leading to the present invention, however, it has surprisingly been found that, on the contrary, where certain viruses are concerned, the second binding is specific, being ascribable to a specific substance with definable chemical characteristics. This binding substance is therefore comparable to the known first-step receptors (see reference 3) which mediate attachment of the virus to the host cell, and is analogously termed the second-step receptor. It seems likely that both the first-step and the second-step receptors are required on a cell for infection to occur. The principal difference between the two receptors is that the first-step receptor is present on the specific cell type which is prone to infection with a particular
REFERENCES:
patent: 3622666 (1971-11-01), Cook
patent: 4397959 (1983-08-01), Hechemy
patent: 4446128 (1984-05-01), Baschang et al.
patent: 4678747 (1987-07-01), Lloyd et al.
patent: 4695553 (1987-09-01), Wardlaw et al.
patent: 4711841 (1987-12-01), Kronvall
patent: 4724205 (1988-02-01), Karlsson et al.
Karlsson Karl-Anders
Norrby Erling
Wadell Goran
Cooper Iver P.
Griffin Ronald W.
Symbicom AB
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