Abstract
Representative DNA gyrase inhibitors, eukaryotic
topoisomerase I and II inhibitors and DNA cleaving or
binding compounds were screened for their activity
against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) replication
in MT-2 cells, with the HIV supercoiled DNA
form as the proposed target. Of 17 compounds, only
the DNA gyrase inhibitor coumermycin A1 was active.
This inhibition was observed for two HIV isolates in
both MT-2 cells and peripheral blood leucocytes, and
could not be attributed to cytotoxicity. Coumermycin
A1 did not inhibit HIV reverse transcriptase activity in
an in vitro assay at concentrations that inhibited HIV
replication in infected cells; its precise mechanism of
action remains to be elucidated.