A method and oligonucleotide compound for inhibiting replication of a
nidovirus in virus-infected animal cells are disclosed. The compound (i)
has a nuclease-resistant backbone, (ii) is capable of uptake by the
infected cells, (iii) contains between 8-25 nucleotide bases, and (iv)
has a sequence capable of disrupting base pairing between the
transcriptional regulatory sequences in the 5' leader region of the
positive-strand viral genome and negative-strand 3' subgenomic region. In
practicing the method, infected cells are exposed to the compound in an
amount effective to inhibit viral replication.
