E-Mail karger@karger.com Original Paper Intervirology 2016;59:235–242 DOI: 10.1159/000464134 Peptides Derived from Glycoproteins H and B of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 and Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Are Capable of Blocking Herpetic Infection in vitro Abraham Cetina-Corona a Uriel López-Sánchez a, c Juana Salinas-Trujano a Alfonso Méndez-Tenorio b Blanca Lilia Barrón a Jesus Torres-Flores a a Laboratorio de Virología, Departamento de Microbiología, and b Departamento de Bioquímica, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico; c Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS UMR 5535), Montpellier, France cells. The U-1 and U-2 gB-derived AVPs showed high viru- cidal and antiviral activities against both HSV-1 and HSV-2. The gH-derived peptide CB-1 showed high virucidal and an- tiviral activities against HSV-2, while CB-2 showed similar re- sults against HSV-1. The peptides CB-1 and CB-2 showed higher IC 50 values than the U-1 and U-2 peptides. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel Introduction Herpes simplex viruses type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2) are widely spread all around the world, causing infections that range from ulcerations of the oral and gen- ital mucous membranes to severe infections like herpetic encephalitis and disseminated infections in newborns [1– 4]. One of the most striking features of herpes simplex viruses is that they can establish a latency state in sensory and autonomic ganglia, reactivating periodically due to several stimuli, which include stress and fever, amongst others [5]. Clinically, HSV-1 has been mainly associated with orofacial infections, and according to the World Keywords Antiviral peptides · Herpes simplex viruses type 1 · Herpes simplex viruses type 2 · Glycoprotein H · Glycoprotein B Abstract Aims: The aim of this study was to design peptides derived from glycoproteins H (gH) and B (gB) of herpes simplex vi- ruses type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2) with the potential to block herpetic infection and to evaluate their ability to in- hibit HSV-1 and HSV-2 infection in vitro. Methods: A library of continuous 15–25 residue stretches (CRSs) located at the surface of gH and gB from HSV-1 and HSV-2 was created. These CRSs were analyzed, and only those that were highly flexible and rich in charged residues were selected for the design of the antiviral peptides (AVPs). The toxicity of the AVPs was evaluated by MTT reduction assays. Virucidal activ- ity of the AVPs was determined by a plaque reduction assay, and their antiviral effect was measured by cell viability as- says. Results and Conclusion: Four AVPs (CB-1, CB-2, U-1, and U-2) derived from gB and gH were designed and synthe- tized, none of which showed high levels of toxicity in Vero Received: November 23, 2016 Accepted: February 8, 2017 Published online: March 23, 2017 Jesus Torres-Flores Laboratorio de Virología, Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Carpio y Plan de Ayala S/N Casco de Santo Tomás, Ciudad de México 11340 (Mexico) E-Mail chu_torrey  @  hotmail.com © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel 0300–5526/17/0596–0235$39.50/0 www.karger.com/int