Analysis of how LiCl inhibits cytomegalovirus, a common herpesvirus

Over a decade ago, studies found that LiCl can inhibit the replication of some herpesviruses, but how it inhibits was never determined. Recently our lab confirmed that LiCl can inhibit cytomegalovirus replication, a herpesvirus which hadn’t been previously studied with LiCl. When LiCl was added at the time of infection, viral production was reduced 5 logs over 2 days, but if added 24 hours after infection the reduction was only 10 fold. This study investigates whether LiCl acts on the virus or host. We compared the effect of pretreating the cells with LiCl for 4 hours before viral infection and having LiCl present at various time points of infection. If pretreatment leads to a decrease in virus production/proteins then cellular proteins must be a major factor, but if it’s most effective during specific stages of viral replication this can help guide us to what viral proteins may be affected.