Evaluation of Canonical siRNA and Dicer Substrate RNA for Inhibition of Hepatitis C Virus Genome Replication – A Comparative Study

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) frequently establishes persistent infections in the liver, leading to the development of chronic hepatitis and, potentially, to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma at later stages. The objective of this study was to test the ability of five Dicer substrate siRNAs (DsiRNA) to inhibit HCV replication and to compare these molecules to canonical 21 nt siRNA. DsiRNA molecules were designed to target five distinct regions of the HCV genome – the 5’ UTR and the coding regions for NS3, NS4B, NS5A or NS5B. These molecules were transfected into Huh7.5 cells that stably harboured an HCV subgenomic replicon expressing a firefly luciferase/neoR reporter (SGR-Feo-JFH-1) and were also tested on HCVcc-infected cells. All of the DsiRNAs inhibited HCV replication in both the subgenomic system and HCVcc-infected cells. When DsiRNAs were transfected prior to infection with HCVcc, the inhibition levels reached 99.5%. When directly compared, canonical siRNA and DsiRNA exhibited similar potency of virus inhibition. Furthermore, both types of molecules exhibited similar dynamics of inhibition and frequencies of resistant mutants after 21 days of treatment. Thus, DsiRNA molecules are as potent as 21 nt siRNAs for the inhibition of HCV replication and may provide future approaches for HCV therapy if the emergence of resistant mutants can be addressed.     

Recombinant Dicer efficiently converts large dsRNAs into siRNAs suitable for gene silencing

RNA interference (RNAi) is a powerful method for specifically silencing gene expression in diverse cell types. RNAi is mediated by approximately 21-nucleotide small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), which are produced from larger double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) in vivo through the action of Dicer, an RNase III-family enzyme. Transfecting cells with siRNAs rather than larger dsRNAs avoids the nonspecific gene silencing of the interferon response, underscoring the importance of developing efficient methods for producing reliable siRNAs. Here we show that pools of 20- to 21-base pair (bp) siRNAs can be produced enzymatically in vitro using active recombinant Dicer. Yields of < or = 70% are obtained, and the siRNAs can be easily separated from any residual large dsRNA by a series of spin columns or gel purification. Dicer-generated siRNAs (d-siRNAs) are effective in silencing transiently transfected reporter genes and endogenous genes, making in vitro dicing a useful, practical alternative for the production of siRNAs.     

In C. elegans,High Levels of dsRNA Allow RNAi in the Absence of RDE-4

C. elegans Dicer requires an accessory double-stranded RNA binding protein, RDE-4, to enact the first step of RNA interference, the cleavage of dsRNA to produce siRNA. While RDE-4 is typically essential for RNAi, we report that in the presence of high concentrations of trigger dsRNA, rde-4 deficient animals are capable of silencing a transgene. By multiple criteria the silencing occurs by the canonical RNAi pathway. For example, silencing is RDE-1 dependent and exhibits a decrease in the targeted mRNA in response to an increase in siRNA. We also find that high concentrations of dsRNA trigger lead to increased accumulation of primary siRNAs, consistent with the existence of a rate-limiting step during the conversion of primary to secondary siRNAs. Our studies also revealed that transgene silencing occurs at low levels in the soma, even in the presence of ADARs, and that at least some siRNAs accumulate in a temperature-dependent manner. We conclude that an RNAi response varies with different conditions, and this may allow an organism to tailor a response to specific environmental signals.     

Molecular basis for improved gene silencing by Dicer substrate interfering RNA compared with other siRNA variants

The canonical exogenous trigger of RNA interference (RNAi) in mammals is small interfering RNA (siRNA). One promising application of RNAi is siRNA-based therapeutics, and therefore the optimization of siRNA efficacy is an important consideration. To reduce unfavorable properties of canonical 21mer siRNAs, structural and chemical variations to canonical siRNA have been reported. Several of these siRNA variants demonstrate increased potency in downstream readout-based assays, but the molecular mechanism underlying the increased potency is not clear. Here, we tested the performance of canonical siRNAs and several sequence-matched variants in parallel in gene silencing, RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) assembly, stability and Argonaute (Ago) loading assays. The commonly used 19mer with two deoxythymidine overhangs (19merTT) variant performed similarly to canonical 21mer siRNA. A shorter 16mer variant (16merTT) did not perform comparably in our assays. Dicer substrate interfering RNA (dsiRNA) demonstrated better gene silencing by the guide strand (target complementary strand), better RISC assembly, persistence of the guide strand and relatively more loading of the guide strand into Ago. Hence, we demonstrate the advantageous properties of dsiRNAs at upstream, intermediate and downstream molecular steps of the RNAi pathway.     

Inputs and outputs for chromatin-targeted RNAi

Plant gene silencing is targeted to transposons and repeated sequences by small RNAs from the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway. Like classical RNAi, RNA-directed chromatin silencing involves the cleavage of double-stranded RNA by Dicer endonucleases to create small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), which bind to the Argonaute protein. The production of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) must be carefully controlled to prevent inappropriate silencing. A plant-specific RNA polymerase IV (Pol IV) initiates siRNA production at silent heterochromatin, but Pol IV-independent mechanisms for making dsRNA also exist. Downstream of siRNA biogenesis, multiple chromatin marks might be targeted by Argonaute-siRNA complexes, yet mechanisms of chromatin modification remain poorly understood. Genomic studies of siRNA target loci promise to reveal novel biological functions for chromatin-targeted RNAi.     

RNA interference: past, present and future

RNA interference (RNAi) is the sequence-specific gene silencing induced by double-stranded RNA. RNAi is mediated by 21-23 nucleotide small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) which are produced from long double-stranded RNAs by RNAse II-like enzyme Dicer. The resulting siRNAs are incorporated into a RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) that targets and cleaves mRNA complementary to the siRNAs. Since its inception in 1998, RNAi has been demonstrated in organisms ranging from trypanosomes to nematodes to vertebrates. Potential uses already in progress include the examination of specific gene function in living systems, the development of anti-viral and anti-cancer therapies, and genome-wide screens. In this review, we discuss the landmark discoveries that established the contextual framework leading up to our current understanding of RNAi. We also provide an overview of current developments and future applications.     

Synthesis of 2'-O-guanidinopropyl-modified nucleoside phosphoramidites and their incorporation into siRNAs targeting hepatitis B virus

Synthetic RNAi activators have shown considerable potential for therapeutic application to silencing of pathology-causing genes. Typically these exogenous RNAi activators comprise duplex RNA of approximately 21 bp with 2 nt overhangs at the 3' ends. To improve efficacy of siRNAs, chemical modification at the 2'-OH group of ribose has been employed. Enhanced stability, gene silencing and attenuated immunostimulation have been demonstrated using this approach. Although promising, efficient and controlled delivery of highly negatively charged nucleic acid gene silencers remains problematic. To assess the potential utility of introducing positively charged groups at the 2' position, our investigations aimed at assessing efficacy of novel siRNAs containing 2'-O-guanidinopropyl (GP) moieties. We describe the formation of all four GP-modified nucleosides using the synthesis sequence of Michael addition with acrylonitrile followed by Raney-Ni reduction and guanidinylation. These precursors were used successfully to generate antihepatitis B virus (HBV) siRNAs. Testing in a cell culture model of viral replication demonstrated that the GP modifications improved silencing. Moreover, thermodynamic stability was not affected by the GP moieties and their introduction into each position of the seed region of the siRNA guide strand did not alter the silencing efficacy of the intended HBV target. These results demonstrate that modification of siRNAs with GP groups confers properties that may be useful for advancing therapeutic application of synthetic RNAi activators.     

RNA干扰技术及其在细胞周期研究中的应用

RNA干扰(RNA interference,RNA i)是由双链RNA(doub le-stranded RNA,dsRNA)引发的转录后基因沉默(posttran-scridptional gene silenc ing,PTGS)。dsRNA经D icer酶降解成21-23nt的siRNA,并以其为模板,特定位点、特定间隔降解与之序列相应的mRNA。随着RNA i机制的深入研究与广泛应用,目前该技术已经普遍应用于细胞周期研究中,在阐明各种调控机制的同时也为基因治疗提供了新靶点。     

Amino-modified and lipid-conjugated dicer-substrate siRNA enhances RNAi efficacy

The development of Dicer-substrate small interfering RNAs (DsiRNAs) has been pursued in recent years because these molecules exhibit a much more potent gene-silencing effect than 21-nucleotide (nt) siRNAs. In the present study, we designed eight different types of amino-modified DsiRNAs and a palmitic acid-conjugated DsiRNA expected to result in improved biological properties of siRNAs, including their stability against nuclease degradation, membrane permeability, and RNAi efficacy. The DsiRNAs were modified with an amine at the 5'- and/or 3'-end of the sense and/or antisense strand. Dicer enzyme cleaved most of the amino-modified DsiRNAs to lead to the release of 21-nt siRNA; some of them, however, were not or partly cleaved. All amino-modified DsiRNAs exhibited strong resistance against nuclease degradations. Among the amino-modified DsiRNAs, the DsiRNA modified with an amine restricted at the 3'-end of the sense strand showed the most enhanced gene-silencing effect and maintained its potent gene suppression after one week of cell transfection against Renilla luciferase activity. For further improvement, palmitic acid was conjugated to DsiRNA at the 3'-end of the sense strand (C16-DsiRNA) to facilitate the membrane permeability and potent gene-silencing activity. The C16-DsiRNA showed enhanced membrane permeability to HeLa cells. The C16-DsiRNA exhibited extremely high inhibition of Renilla luciferase activity.     

RNA干涉及其应用前景

RNA干涉是指由特定双链RNA(dsRNA)引起的转录后基因沉默现象。研究表明,Dicer断裂dsRNA产生的小干涉RNA可以抑制哺乳动物体细胞和胚胎中的基因的表达。RdRP在扩增RNAi中起着关键性的作用,RdRP活性复制较长的触发性dsRNA或以一种非引物的方式复制短的siRNA,即以siRNA为引物的RdRP反应使靶mRNA转变为dsRNA,同时复制触发性dsRNA。所有的产物又可作为Dicer的底物,起始RdRP级联反应。本文综述了RNAi可能的作用机制,并对RNAi在分析功能基因组、药物治疗等方面的应用前景进行了展望。     

TRBP, a regulator of cellular PKR and HIV-1 virus expression, interacts with Dicer and functions in RNA silencing

Dicer is a key enzyme involved in RNA interference (RNAi) and microRNA (miRNA) pathways. It is required for biogenesis of miRNAs and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), and also has a role in the effector steps of RNA silencing. Apart from Argonautes, no proteins are known to associate with Dicer in mammalian cells. In this work, we describe the identification of TRBP (human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) transactivating response (TAR) RNA-binding protein) as a protein partner of human Dicer. We show that TRBP is required for optimal RNA silencing mediated by siRNAs and endogenous miRNAs, and that it facilitates cleavage of pre-miRNA in vitro. TRBP had previously been assigned several functions, including inhibition of the interferon-induced double-stranded RNA-regulated protein kinase PKR and modulation of HIV-1 gene expression by association with TAR. The TRBP-Dicer interaction shown raises interesting questions about the potential interplay between RNAi and interferon-PKR pathways.     

Potent RNAi by short RNA triggers

RNA interference (RNAi) is a gene-silencing mechanism by which a ribonucleoprotein complex, the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) and a double-stranded (ds) short-interfering RNA (siRNA), targets a complementary mRNA for site-specific cleavage and subsequent degradation. While longer dsRNA are endogenously processed into 21- to 24-nucleotide (nt) siRNAs or miRNAs to induce gene silencing, RNAi studies in human cells typically use synthetic 19- to 20-nt siRNA duplexes with 2-nt overhangs at the 3′-end of both strands. Here, we report that systematic synthesis and analysis of siRNAs with deletions at the passenger and/or guide strand revealed a short RNAi trigger, 16-nt siRNA, which induces potent RNAi in human cells. Our results indicate that the minimal requirement for dsRNA to trigger RNAi is an ~42 Å A-form helix with ~1.5 helical turns. The 16-nt siRNA more effectively knocked down mRNA and protein levels than 19-nt siRNA when targeting the endogenous CDK9 gene, suggesting that 16-nt siRNA is a more potent RNAi trigger. In vitro kinetic analysis of RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) programmed in HeLa cells indicates that 16-nt siRNA has a higher RISC-loading capacity than 19-nt siRNA. These results suggest that RISC assembly and activation during RNAi does not necessarily require a 19-nt duplex siRNA and that 16-nt duplexes can be designed as more potent triggers to induce RNAi.