Uptake and fate of water-soluble, nondegradable polymers with antiviral activity in cells and animals

Abstract

Poly(9-vinyladenine) and poly(1-vinyluracil) which are nondegradable, soluble polymers are taken up partially by mammalian cells grown in culture. The polymers remain associated with cells for several generations. In mice, after i.p. application, polymers slowly accumulate in liver, spleen and thymus and remain there for as long as a month. These polymers which suppress the replication of murine leukemia viruses also accumulate in organs where the virus replicates. Their antiviral activity does not reflect the amount of polymer found in these animal tissues. The polymers may be gradually segregated into a group of cells or into subcellular organelles away from primary sites of virus replication. For a directly acting polymeric drug, a half-life over 24 h is apparently without advantage.