title: Construction of a ribozyme directed against human interleukin-6 mRNA: evaluation of its catalytic activity in vitro and in vivo.
abstract: We have designed a ribozyme (Rz) that cleaves human interleukin-6 (IL-6) mRNA in vivo. This Rz was tested in vitro, and was found to give expected size fragments. It was then incorporated into a mammalian expression vector containing the constitutive cytomegalovirus (CMV) immediate early promoter and transfected into human U amniotic cells (UAC). Cell clones that stably express this catalytic RNA have been obtained. Some of them displayed a marked reduction of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-induced IL-6 production. Their reduced ability to express IL-6 was related to the amount of Rz they produced and to the extent of IL-6 mRNA cleavage as observed by a ribonuclease protection assay. These data provide a method to study further the role of IL-6 production in various biologic situations, and suggest the feasibility of developing Rzs directed against various cytokines to study their biologic role and mechanism of action.
authors.affiliation: Institut Pasteur du Brabant, Department of Virology, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mahieu
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Deschuyteneer
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Forget
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vandenbussche
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Content
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D002384:Catalysis; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D015202:Protein Engineering; D016337:RNA, Catalytic / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6; D016337:RNA, Catalytic; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins