title: Inhibition of HIV-1 replication by RNA with a microRNA-like function.
abstract: Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) replication is suppressed by             a small guide RNA (sgRNA) that targets the packaging signal of HIV-1 RNA. We unintentionally             produced a plasmid with the reverse sequence of the sgRNA and its terminator (pR-Ψ-sgRNA-ter).             Both sgRNA and R-Ψ-sgRNA suppress HIV-1, but the mechanism by which R-Ψ-sgRNA             suppresses HIV is not clear. To evaluate whether the suppressive effect is caused             by an RNA interference or microRNA (miRNA)-like mechanism, R-Ψ-sgRNA was synthesized             in vitro and treated with the Dicer enzyme, an important enzyme for RNA interference             and miRNA. The RNA was cleaved into fragments of approximately 24 nucleotides             (nt). We analyzed the sequence of the RNA fragments and predicted the RNA secondary             structure of R-Ψ-sgRNA to determine the region recognized by the Dicer enzyme.             The lengths of the R-Ψ-sgRNA fragments ranged from 48 to 140 nt, and were predicted             to form double strands, including mismatches, in this region. An HIV-1 p24 assay             indicated that the R-Ψ-sgRNA fragments suppressed HIV-1 replication. These findings             suggest that R-Ψ-sgRNA acts as a miRNA to inhibit HIV-1.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life and Environmental Science, Chiba Institute                     of Technology, Narashino, Chiba 275-0016, Japan.
authors.forename: Keijiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Senoki
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takaku
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000502:physiology*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D034622:RNA Interference; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D043244:Ribonuclease III / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D014779:Virus Replication; D058727:RNA, Small Untranslated
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D012367:RNA, Viral; D043244:Ribonuclease III; D058727:RNA, Small Untranslated