Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche

Carla Amici

Enrico Garaci

Maria Gabriella Santoro

Antonio Rossi

Giuliano Elia

The invention relates to 2-cyclopenten-1-one as an inducer of the heat shock protein HSP70 by activating the heat shock transcription factor HSF, and selectively inducing the transcription and translation of HSP70 in human cells. In particular, since a cytoprotective role of HSP70 during viral infection was previously shown, the invention refers to 2-cyclopenten-1-one and its pharmaceutically acceptable derivatives as inducers of HSP70 with antiviral activity. Treatment with 2-cyclopenten-1-one and its pharmaceutically acceptable derivatives causes a dose-dependent reduction of infectious virus yield during infection with vesicular stomatitis virus. The block of virus replication is due to inhibition of viral protein synthesis, associated with HSP70 synthesis.

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Rome, Italy

Carla Amici