Method for detecting antivirals that inhibit acylation/palmitylation of hemagglutinin

An assay for identifying a potential anti-viral compound that inhibits the palmitylation of a cysteine residue of an influenza hemagglutinin and thereby inhibits late stages of viral life cycle and production of infectious virus, comprising:

• (a) providing cells infected with an influenza virus that has a hemagglutinin gene product characterized by a cysteine residue in the penultimate position of the cytoplasmic tail;
• (b) adding palmitate and a test substance to the influenza virus-infected cell;
• (c) detecting whether the palmitate is incorporated into influenza virus hemagglutinin recovered from the infected cell, in which the ability of the test substance to inhibit palmitylation is indicated by a decrease in incorporation of the palmitate into the hemagglutinin as compared to the amount of palmitate incorporated into the hemagglutinin in the absence of the test substance.