Glycofullerenes inhibit viral infection

7 páginas, 2 figurasWater soluble glycofullerenes based on a hexakis-adduct of [60]fullerene with an octahedral addition pattern are very attractive compounds providing a spherical presentation of carbohydrates. These tools have been recently described and they have 2 been used to interact with lectins in a multivalent manner. Here, we present the use of these glycofullerenes, including new members with 36 mannoses, as compounds able to inhibit a DC-SIGN-dependent cell infection by pseudotyped viral particles. The results obtained in these experiments demonstrate for the first time that these glycoconjugates are adequate to inhibit efficiently an infection process and, therefore, they can be considered as very promising and interesting tools to interfere in biological events where lectins such as DC-SIGN are involved.Ebola GP was kindly provided by Dr. Anthony Sanchez, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA. The plasmid pNL4-3.Luc.R-E- was obtained from the AIDS Reagents Program. We would like to acknowledge the financial support by the MICINN of Spain CTQ2008-01694, CTQ2011-23410 and CTQ2011-24652, the EU RTN CARMUSYS (PITN-GA-2008-213592), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (FIS01101580) and the European FEDER funds.Peer reviewe