We studied the in vitro antirhinovirus activity of a soluble form of intercellular adhesion molecule-i (sICAM-1). sICAM-1 inhibited the cytopathic effect of 10 representative human rhinovirus (HRV) serotypes of the major receptor group with, 50%o effective concentrations (ECs.s) of 0.1 to 7.9 ,ug/ml. Cell type-dependent variation in the inhibitory activity of sICAM-1 was observed for two major receptor group serotypes in HeLa cells (EC50, >32 ,ug/ml), and no inhibitory effect was observed for two serotypes which use different cell receptors. Yield reduction assays showed that sICAM-1 inhibited the replication of HRV serotype in human adenoid explants in a concentration-dependent manner. No direct inactivation of infectivity of HRV-39 (EC50, 0.5 jLg/ml) was observed after incubation with sICAM-1 (32 jg/mi) for up to 24 h. Singlecycle-of-replication experiments with the addition of sICAM-1 at 10 pg/mI at different times showed that the inhibitory effect occurs only when sICAM-1 is added within 30 min after infection. In experiments in which absorption was carried out at 4°C and then a single cycle of replication incubation was carried out at 33°C, it was found that sICAM-1 at 10 jig/ml was inhibitory only when it was present during the absorption period. Our data show that sICAM-1 is inhibitory for representative major receptor group serotypes of HRV in two cell lines and human respiratory epithelium, that the interaction of sICAM-1 with HRV is readily reversible by dilution, and that the inhibitory effect of sICAM-1 on virus replication is present early in the infection cycle.The glycoprotein intercellular adhesion molecule type 1 (ICAM-1) has been identified as the cell receptor for the major receptor group of human rhinoviruses (HRVs), which includes approximately 90% of the numbered serotypes (7,14,15). ICAM-1, which is a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily, is a cell surface molecule which functions as a ligand for the lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 and promotes interactions between leukocytes and a number of cell types (9). ICAM-1 is composed of five extracellular immunoglobulinlike domains, one transmembrane anchor, and an intracytoplasmic C-terminal domain (7,14). The primary site for the interaction of both lymphocyte functionassociated antigen-1 and HRV seems to be within domain 1 of ICAM-1 (13). HRV in cultures of established cell lines and explants of human respiratory epithelium and to assess the mechanism of antirhinovirus activity of sICAM-1.
MATERIALS AND METHODSV'iruses, cells, and reagents. Laboratory-passaged stocks of