Aurintricarboxylic acid (ATA) is an inhibitor of protein synthesis that has diverse biological activities.1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 It inhibits the activity of a variety of enzymes, including the nucleases DNase I, RNase A, and S1, as well as the serine proteases trypsin and chymotrypsin in a concentration-dependent manner.2,3 ATA inhibits replication of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV; EC50 = 200 µg/ml) and human enterovirus 71 in Vero cells (EV71; EC50 = 2.9 µM), as well as reduces HIV-1- or HIV-2-induced cytopathogenicity in MT-4 cells (IC50s = 1.1 and 0.85 µg/ml, respectively).4,5,6 It inhibits apoptosis induced by sanguinarine in K562 leukemia cells when used at a concentration of 100 µM.7 ATA (20 mg/kg, i.p.) decreases CNS CD4+ T cell infiltration and reduces hind limb weakness and paralysis in a mouse model of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein-induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE).8
1.Siegelman, F., and Apirion, D.Aurintricarboxylic acid, a preferential inhibitor of initiation of protein synthesisJ. Bacteriol.105(3)902-907(1971) 2.Hallick, R.B., Chelm, B.K., Gray, P.W., et al.Use of aurintricarboxylic acid as an inhibitor of nucleases during nucleic acid isolationNucleic Acids Res.4(9)3055-3064(1977) 3.Bina-Stein, M., and Tritton, T.R.Aurintricarboxylic acid is a nonspecific enzyme inhibitorMol. Pharmacol.12(1)191-193(1976) 4.He, R., Adonov, A., Traykova-Adonova, M., et al.Potent and selective inhibition of SARS coronavirus replication by aurintricarboxylic acidBiochem. Biophys. Res. Commun.320(4)1199-1203(2004) 5.Hung, H.-C., Chen, T.-C., Fang, M.-Y., et al.Inhibition of enterovirus 71 replication and the viral 3D polymerase by aurintricarboxylic acidJ. Antimicrob. Chemother.65(4)676-683(2010) 6.Cushman, M., Wang, P.L., Chang, S.H., et al.Preparation and anti-HIV activities of aurintricarboxylic acid fractions and analogues: Direct correlation of antiviral potency with molecular weightJ. Med. Chem.34(1)329-337(1991) 7.Hallock, S., Tang, S.-C., Buja, L.M., et al.Aurintricarboxylic acid inhibits protein synthesis independent, sanguinarine-induced apoptosis and oncosisToxicol. Pathol.35(2)300-309(2007) 8.Zhang, F., Wei, W., Chai, H., et al.Aurintricarboxylic acid ameliorates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis by blocking chemokine-mediated pathogenic cell migration and infiltrationJ. Immunol.190(3)1017-1025(2013)