n-Butyrate, a cell cycle blocker, inhibits the replication of polyomaviruses and papillomaviruses but not that of adenoviruses and herpesviruses.

Small DNA viruses are dependent on the interaction of early proteins (such as large T antigen) with host p53 and Rb to bring about the G1-to-S cell cycle transition. The large DNA viruses are less dependent on host regulatory genes since additional early viral proteins (such as viral DNA polymerase, DNA metabolic enzymes, and other replication proteins) are involved in DNA synthesis. A highly conserved domain of large T antigen (similar to the p53-binding region) exclusively identifies papovavirus, parvovirus, and papillomaviruses from all other larger DNA viruses and implies a conserved interaction with host regulatory genes. In this report, we show that 3 to 6 mM butyrate, a general cell cycle blocker implicated in inhibition of the G1-to-S transition, inhibits DNA replication of polyomavirus and human papillomavirus type 11 but not the replication of larger DNA viruses such as adenovirus types 2 and 5, herpes simplex virus type 1, Epstein-Barr virus, and cytomegalovirus, which all bypass the butyrate-mediated cell cycle block. This butyrate effect on polyomavirus replication is not cell type specific, nor does it depend on the p53 or Rb gene, as inhibition was seen in fibroblasts with intact or homozygous deleted p53 or Rb, 3T6 cells, keratinocytes, C2C12 myoblasts, and 3T3-L1 adipocytes. In addition, butyrate did not inhibit expression of polyomavirus T antigen. The antiviral effect of butyrate involves a form of imprinted state, since pretreatment of cells with 3 mM butyrate inhibits human papillomavirus type 11 DNA replication for at least 96 h after its removal. Butyrate, therefore, serves as a molecular tool in dissecting the life cycle of smaller DNA viruses from that of the larger DNA viruses in relation to the cell cycle.