Buthionine sulfoximine inhibits cytopathic effect and apoptosis induced by infection with human echovirus 9.

We studied the effect of buthionine sulfoximine (BSO) on the replication of an isolate of human echovirus 9 (EV9) and the apoptosis induced by it in GMK cells. One hundred microM BSO markedly inhibited the cytopathic effect (CPE) induced by EV9. BSO also significantly inhibited apoptosis induced by EV9. BSO did not influence replication of EV9 genome, but inhibited virion formation. These results suggest that the inhibition by BSO of CPE and apoptosis induced by EV9 may be associated with the impairment of virion formation. Moreover, apoptosis induced by infections of human poliovirus 3, human coxsackievirus B5, A10 and A16, which, like EV9, belong to the genus Enterovirus, was markedly abolished by BSO. This finding suggests that enteroviral infections cause apoptosis through the activation of a common pathway that can be inhibited by BSO.