New Compounds Block Replication of AIDS and Leukemia Viruses

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NEW COMPOUNDS BLOCK REPLICATION OF AIDS AND LEUKEMIA VIRUSES
St. Louis, Dec. 1, 1989 -- A newly developed class of compounds has
proven to effectively inhibit replication of the AIDS virus in cultured human
white blood cells and might hold promise as a new therapeutic approach to this
disease, according to researchers at Washington University in St. Louis. The
scientists' findings appear in the current issue of The Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences, a highly regarded research journal.
"While these results are exciting, it's important to point out that the
studies described in the report were limited only to testing in cell cultures.
We must temper our enthusiasm until more is known," says Jeffrey I. Gordon,
M.D., principal investigator and professor of medicine and of biochemistry and
molecular biophysics who directed the research. "Considerably more work has
to be done with cultured cells and in animals before we completely understand
how these compounds work and whether or not they will be useful in treating
viral illnesses such as AIDS."
The new compounds resemble myristic acid, a rare, naturally occurring
fatty acid that appears to be key to the replication of some viruses, for
example, the AIDS virus. After infecting a cell, viruses commandeer the

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