Influence of membrane (M) protein on influenza A virus virion transcriptase activity in vitro and its susceptibility to rimantadine.

The transcriptase activity of influenza A virus ribonucleoproteins was inhibited by 42 to 49% in vitro in the presence of membrane (M) protein. The addition of M protein to the system of ribonucleoprotein preparations isolated from rimantadine-sensitive or rimantadine-resistant influenza virus strains, as well as the addition of M protein isolated from a sensitive strain, in the presence of rimantadine further inhibited the transcriptase activity of such complexes by approximately 40%. In the system containing the same ribonucleoprotein preparations, but with M protein isolated from a rimantadine-resistant influenza virus strain, the transcriptase activity was not sensitive to rimantadine. The data show that M protein can influence the activity of influenza A virus virion transcriptase and that the susceptibility of influenza virus to rimantadine may be due to the peculiarities of M protein.