Antiviral activity of oxetanocins against varicella-zoster virus

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Abstract
Several new nucleosides with an oxetanosyl-N-glycoside group, named oxetanocins, were evaluated for their antiviral activities against varicella-zoster virus (VZV) in human embryo lung cells. 9-(2-deoxy-2-hydroxy-methyl-beta-D-erythro-oxetanosyl)guanine (OXT-G) and 9-(2-deoxy-2-hydroxymethyl-beta-D-erythro-oxetanosyl)-2- aminoadenine were effective against not only thymidine kinase-positive (TK+) VZV (YS strain) but also thymidine kinase-negative (TK-) VZV (YSR strain), whereas carbocyclic OXT-G was effective against TK+ VZV but not against TK- VZV. [3H]OXT-G was incorporated into TK+ VZV-infected cells and TK- VZV-infected cells more than into mock-infected cells and was converted into the triphosphate form.