Article

Inhibitory effect of small interfering RNA specific for a novel candidate target in PB1 gene of influenza A virus.

State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Xuanwu District, Beijing, PR China.
Journal of Drug Targeting (impact factor: 2.7). 01/2009; 17(2):133-9. DOI:10.1080/10611860802473048
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT Influenza, mainly caused by influenza virus, is becoming one of the major concerns in the world. Limitation in vaccines necessitates the urgent development of new therapeutic options against this virus. In the present study, we designed small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting overlapping gene of PB1 and PB1-F2 gene of the influenza A virus and investigated its effect against influenza A virus infection. A reduction in virus-associated cell apoptosis was observed in A549 cells treated with this siRNA. Furthermore, its antiviral effect was confirmed by different methods. Also, a marked decrease of virus titer in chicken embryos treated with the siRNA was observed. The findings of this work highlight the potential of this shared region to be an additional therapeutic target for the treatment of influenza virus infection.

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Keywords

additional therapeutic target
 
antiviral effect
 
different methods
 
influenza virus infection
 
major concerns
 
marked decrease
 
new therapeutic options
 
overlapping gene
 
PB1-F2 gene
 
RNA
 
shared region
 
siRNA
 
urgent development
 
vaccines necessitates
 
virus infection
 
virus-associated cell apoptosis