Inhibition of severe acute respiratory syndrome virus replication by small interfering RNAs in mammalian cells.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is an acute respiratory infectious disease that spread worldwide in early 2003. The cause was determined as a novel coronavirus (CoV), SARS-associated CoV (SARS-CoV), with a single-stranded, plus-sense RNA. To date, no effective specific treatment has been identified. To exploit the possibility of using RNA interference as a therapeutic approach to fight the disease, plasmid-mediated small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) were generated to target the SARS-CoV genome. The expression of siRNAs from two plasmids, which specifically target the viral RNA polymerase, effectively blocked the cytopathic effects of SARS-CoV on Vero cells. These two plasmids also inhibited viral replication as shown by titer assays and by an examination of viral RNA and protein levels. Thus, our results demonstrated the feasibility of developing siRNAs as effective anti-SARS drugs.
Wang
Zhi
Z
Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
Ren
Lili
L
Zhao
Xingang
X
Hung
Tao
T
Meng
Anming
A
Wang
Jianwei
J
Chen
Ye-Guang
YG
D000818:Animals; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D003588:Cytopathogenic Effect, Viral / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D034622:RNA Interference; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000096:biosynthesis; D045473:Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D014709:Vero Cells; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000187:drug effects*
D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D012367:RNA, Viral