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- Title
Melaleuca alternifolia Concentrate Inhibits in Vitro Entry of Influenza Virus into Host Cells.
- Authors
Xinghua Li; Songwei Duan; Cordia Chu; Jun Xu; Gucheng Zeng; Alfred King-Yin Lam; Junmei Zhou; Yue Yin; Danyun Fang; Reynolds, Maxwell John; Huaiyu Gu; Lifang Jiang
- Abstract
Influenza virus causes high morbidity among the infected population annually and occasionally the spread of pandemics. Melaleuca alternifolia Concentrate (MAC) is an essential oil derived from a native Australian tea tree. Our aim was to investigate whether MAC has any in vitro inhibitory effect on influenza virus infection and what mechanism does the MAC use to fight the virus infection. In this study, the antiviral activity of MAC was examined by its inhibition of cytopathic effects. In silico prediction was performed to evaluate the interaction between MAC and the viral haemagglutinin. We found that when the influenza virus was incubated with 0.010% MAC for one hour, no cytopathic effect on MDCK cells was found after the virus infection and no immunofluorescence signal was detected in the host cells. Electron microscopy showed that the virus treated with MAC retained its structural integrity. By computational simulations, we found that terpinen-4-ol, which is the major bioactive component of MAC, could combine with the membrane fusion site of haemagglutinin. Thus, we proved that MAC could prevent influenza virus from entering the host cells by disturbing the normal viral membrane fusion procedure.
- Subjects
PHYSIOLOGICAL effects of essential oils; MELALEUCA alternifolia; INFLUENZA treatment; INFLUENZA viruses; MEMBRANE fusion; CELLULAR pathology; BIOCHEMICAL mechanism of action; ELECTRON microscopy
- Publication
Molecules, 2013, Vol 18, Issue 8, p9550
- ISSN
1420-3049
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3390/molecules18089550