Pentagalloylglucose downregulates cofilin1 and inhibits HSV-1 infection

To investigate the anti-herpesvirus mechanism of pentagalloylglucose (PGG), we compared the proteomic changes between herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infected MRC-5 cells with or without PGG-treatment, and between non-infected MRC-5 cells with or without PGG-treatment by 2-DE and MS-based analysis. Differentially expressed cellular proteins were mainly involved with actin cytoskeleton regulation. Significantly, PGG can down-regulate cofilin1, a key regulator of actin cytoskeleton dynamics. PGG can inhibit HSV-1-induced rearrangements of actin cytoskeleton which is important for infectivity. Furthermore, cofilin1 knockdown by siRNA also inhibited the HSV-1-induced actin-skeleton rearrangements. Both PGG-treatment and cofilin1 knockdown can reduce HSV-1 DNA, mRNA, protein synthesis and virus yields. Altogether, the results suggested that down-regulating cofilin1 plays a role in PGG inhibiting HSV-1 infection. PGG may be a promising anti-herpesvirus agent for drug development.