Antiviral activities of guanosine analogs in guinea pig embryonic fibroblasts.

Previous research has shown that certain antiherpes substances which are activated by thymidine kinase are substantially more active in human fibroblasts than in green monkey kidney cells. The difference has been attributed to the presence of large amounts of intracellular thymidine in the latter cell type. Antiviral guanosine analogs but not thymidine analogs show decreased antiviral activity when used in herpes simplex virus type 1-infected guinea pig fibroblasts. We report the intracellular pools of antiviral di- and triphosphate nucleotides, the monophosphate nucleotide phosphorylating enzyme activities, and the antiviral triphosphate nucleotide stability, studied in herpes simplex virus type 1-infected and uninfected guinea pig fibroblasts. The results were compared with results of parallel experiments done with human fibroblasts and green monkey kidney cells.