[The study of the antiviral activity of polyelectrolytes with respect to the influenza virus]

It is well known that polyelectrolytes (PE) have a damaging effect on the secondary structure of the proteins and enzymes. It is also known that some PEs exert an immunostimulating action on T- and B-lymphocytes. However, currently, almost nothing is known about the impact of the PE of the viral proteins and viral envelope. Therefore, a detailed study of the mechanisms of the antiviral action of various polyelectrolytes would create the scientific-practical base for the construction of the antiviral drugs on the polyelectrolyte basis. In these works, for the first time the influence of PE polystyrene sulfonate (PSS) with varying degrees of polymerization and polyallylamin (PAA) and with molecular mass 6 and 8 kDa on the infectivity of different strains of the influenza virus was studied. It was shown that the expressed antiviral action PSS with degree of polymerization-8 (ETS-8) and PAA (6 kDa) against the influenza viruses was characterized by a significant reduction in the infectious titer of the virus. It was determined that the span of the nontoxic concentrations for the ETS-8 was 1-40 mM; for PAA (6 kDa), 1-40 μM, with IC50 = 3.8 ± 0.19 mm and 1.8 ± 0.09 μM, respectively. For the first time the impact of the PE on the structural-functional state of the viral membrane was assessed on the basis of monomolecular monolayers used as models of cell membranes.