title: Inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus replication by cell membrane-crossing oligomers.
abstract: Although rapidly becoming a valuable tool for gene silencing, regulation or editing in vitro, the direct transfer of small interfering ribonucleic acids (siRNAs) into cells is still an unsolved problem for in vivo applications. For the first time, we show that specific modifications of antisense oligomers allow autonomous passage into cell lines and primary cells without further adjuvant or coupling to a cell-penetrating peptide. For this reason, we termed the specifically modified oligonucleotides "cell membrane-crossing oligomers" (CMCOs). CMCOs targeted to various conserved regions of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 were tested and compared with nontargeting CMCOs. Analyses of uninfected and infected cells incubated with labeled CMCOs revealed that the compounds were enriched in infected cells and some of the tested CMCOs exhibited a potent antiviral effect. Finally, the CMCOs did not exert any cytotoxicity and did not inhibit proliferation of the cells. In vitro, our CMCOs are promising candidates as biologically active anti-HIV reagents for future in vivo applications.
authors: Innsbruck Medical University, Department of Hygiene, Microbiology and Social Medicine, Division of Hygiene and Medical Microbiology, Innsbruck, Austria. wilfried.posch@i-med.ac.at
authors: Wilfried
authors: W
authors: Posch
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Piper
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Lindhorst
authors: Birgit
authors: B
authors: Werner
authors: Adam
authors: A
authors: Fletcher
authors: Holger
authors: H
authors: Bock
authors: Cornelia
authors: C
authors: Lass-Flörl
authors: Heribert
authors: H
authors: Stoiber
authors: Doris
authors: D
authors: Wilflingseder
mesh_terms: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002460:Cell Line; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006678:HIV / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D016376:Oligonucleotides, Antisense / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D016376:Oligonucleotides, Antisense