title: Attenuation of SARS coronavirus by a short hairpin RNA expression plasmid targeting RNA-dependent RNA polymerase.
abstract: Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a highly contagious and sometimes a lethal disease, which spread over five continents in 2002-2003. Laboratory analysis showed that the etiologic agent for SARS is a new type of coronavirus. Currently, there is no specific treatment for this disease. RNA interference (RNAi) is a recently discovered antiviral mechanism in plant and animal cells that induces a specific degradation of double-stranded RNA. Here, we provide evidences that RNAi targeting at coronavirus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RDRP) using short hairpin RNA (shRNA) expression plasmids can specifically inhibit expression of extraneous coronavirus RDRP in 293 and HeLa cells. Moreover, this construct significantly reduced the plaque formation of SARS coronaviruses in Vero-E6 cells. The data may suggest a new approach for treatment of SARS patients.
authors.affiliation: Peking University Stem Cell Center and Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100083, China.
authors.forename: Aili
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Huanqing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiaoyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Hongxia
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Qikuan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Brian S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Schaffhausen
authors.forename: Weimin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Linsong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010957:Plasmids; D034622:RNA Interference; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000235:genetics; D045473:Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / Q000201:enzymology*; D045169:Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / Q000628:therapy*; D014709:Vero Cells
chemical_list: D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase