Inhibition of Dengue virus 2 replication by artificial micrornas targeting the conserved regions

Nucleic Acid Ther. 2013 Aug;23(4):244-52. doi: 10.1089/nat.2012.0405. Epub 2013 May 7.

Abstract

Dengue virus (DENV), a mosquito-borne flavivirus, causes serious diseases and threatens public health in tropical and subtropical areas worldwide. RNA interference (RNAi) is a prevailing strategy for antiviral therapy. In this paper, 6 single artificial microRNAs (amiRNAs) targeting the highly conserved regions of the DENV-2 genome were identified and inhibited virus replication efficiently. Then, effective tandem amiRNAs targeting 2 different DENV-2 genome regions were constructed and expressed simultaneously from a single microRNA-like polycistron to avoid virus variation or mutation escape. Finally, the most high-performance tandem amiRNA was embedded in a lenti-viral vector and inhibited DENV-2 virus replication stably and dose-dependently. Overall, these results indicated that RNAi based on multiple amiRNAs targeting viral conserved regions was an effective approach for improvements of nucleic acid inhibitors of DENV and provided a new therapeutic strategy for DENV infection in humans.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Base Sequence
  • Cell Line
  • Conserved Sequence / genetics
  • Cricetinae
  • Dengue Virus / genetics*
  • Dengue Virus / growth & development
  • Gene Targeting / methods*
  • Genetic Vectors*
  • Genome, Viral*
  • Humans
  • Lentivirus / genetics
  • Mice
  • MicroRNAs / chemical synthesis
  • MicroRNAs / genetics*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • RNA Interference*
  • Virus Replication

Substances

  • MicroRNAs