多靶向RNA干扰技术在基因治疗中的应用与前景

RNA干扰(RNA interference,RNAi)通过转录后基因沉默效应特异性抑制靶基因的表达,其沉默机制的高效性、特异性及稳定性使这项技术成为生物医学领域研究基因治疗的重要工具。阐述RNAi技术的特点和RNAi疗法的现状,特别是多靶小干扰RNA(small interference RNA,siRNA)目前的发展态势及其各种结构性修饰,通过使用这些结构修饰的siRNA提高基因沉默的效率,将有助于提高疗效。但该技术在广泛应用于临床之前,仍存在一些亟待解决的问题与面临的挑战,需进一步研究。     

利用人U6 snRNA启动子构建RNA干扰质粒载体

RNA干扰技术已经成为基因功能研究等领域的有力工具,构建带有筛选标记的siRNA载体可以在细胞中持续抑制靶基因的表达.为了利用RNAi技术开展生物学研究,在克隆载体pUC19的基础上改造构建了人类细胞小干扰RNA（small interference RNA,siRNA）表达质粒pUC19NU.该质粒具有新霉素抗性标记和真核细胞复制起点,利用连入的人U6 snRNA启动子起始siRNA的转录.以EGFP 和p53为靶基因的干扰实验证明,所构建的siRNA表达质粒可以显著抑制细胞外源性增强绿色荧光蛋白（enhanced green fluorescent protein,EGFP）及细胞内源性p53蛋白的表达,而且抑制效果具有特异性.     

RNA干扰体内导入技术研究进展

RNA干扰(RNA interference,RNAi)是一种发展迅速并具有广阔应用前景的基因控制技术,它能特异性地沉默内源或外源性靶基因,已成为基因治疗的有效手段。然而,利用RNA干扰技术进行体内基因沉默的主要障碍是如何实现siRNA和miRNA的体内安全高效输送导入。该文结合国内外进展和本课题组在RNA干扰方面的研究成果,对RNA干扰体内导入技术作一综述。     

RNA干扰技术及其在肝纤维化中的应用

RNA干扰(RNA interference,RNAi)是近几年发展起来的新技术,是外源和内源性双链RNA在生物体内诱导同源靶基因的mRNA特异性降解,因而抑制相应基因表达,导致转录后基因沉默的现象.尽管RNA干扰发现的时间较短,但由于其具有操作简单、成本低、特异性高和高效性等特点,因而发展迅速.小干扰RNA(small interfering RNA,siRNA)的可制备使RNAi在很多领域有了应用的前景,尤其是在复杂多变的肝脏疾病中.肝纤维化(hepatic fibrosis,HF)是多种慢性肝病发展的共同病理基础,RNAi技术在其基因治疗领域拥有广阔的前景.RNAi具有能够调节细胞增殖、抑制致病基因的表达、影响细胞的信号转导等方面的作用,可能成为肝纤维化有效的潜在治疗手段.     

RNA干扰引起的非特异性免疫反应及其机制研究探讨

基因的表达失控是疾病发生的主要原因之一,干扰靶基因的表达可能成为有效的治疗手段。RNA干扰技术是近年兴起的基因调控干预方法,其基础,特别是应用研究极受关注,人们期待RNA干扰能成为肿瘤、病毒感染等难治疾病的临床治疗手段。然而,这一新兴技术在应用研究过程中显现出诸多问题,如细胞毒性、引起机体非特异性反应等等。就RNA干扰引起的非特异性免疫反应展开综述,探讨其机制,期望为RNA干扰的应用研究提供一些思考。     

RNA聚合酶Ⅱ启动子调控RNA 干扰在肿瘤治疗中的应用前景

RNA干扰是双链RNA介导的特异性转录后基因表达沉默现象.由于双链小干扰RNA介导的RNA干扰技术设计简便、作用迅速、效果明显,目前已被广泛应用于基因功能和重大疾病治疗的研究,尤其为肿瘤治疗提供了一条新途径.利用RNA干扰技术通过调节肿瘤发生发展相关基因的表达可制定出一系列有效的抗癌策略.然而在现行大多数策略中往往采用不可调控的RNA聚合酶Ⅲ启动子(H1,U6)表达经典的发夹结构RNA,经由Dicer酶切割成功能性siRNA,因此缺乏组织细胞靶向性和抗癌效率.最新研究表明,采用RNA聚合酶Ⅱ启动子可弥补由RNA聚合酶Ⅲ启动子调控RNA干扰缺陷和不足.此外,运用病毒载体特别是具有靶向和溶瘤效应的肿瘤特异性复制腺病毒,介导RNA聚合酶Ⅱ启动子调控表达siRNA有望成为更有效的治疗手段.     

单链抗体靶向递送系统在RNA干扰中的应用

RNA干扰(RNA interference,RNAi)是一种由干扰小RNA(small interfering RNA,siRNA)介导的转录后基因沉默.随着医学的发展,通过RNAi来抑制靶基因的表达已经成为一种强有力的研究基因功能、验证药物靶标和治疗多种疾病的方法.然而,RNAi在哺乳动物中的治疗应用却受到基因递送系统的限制,即siRNA在体内递送的靶向性.目前,各种配体,如糖基化分子、肽类、蛋白质、抗体和基因工程抗体片段对于靶向递送siRNA具有巨大的应用潜力.它们改善了基因递送系统的有效性、特异性和安全性.本文主要就单链抗体-鱼精蛋白截短体融合蛋白在 RNAi中的应用进行综述.     

siRNA分子的生物体内给药系统

小分子干扰RNA（small interference RNA,siRNA）能特异性地沉默靶基因的表达,具有治疗某些基因异常引起的疾病的应用前景.但是siRNA分子在生物体内应用时存在很多缺陷,要发挥其疾病治疗作用,就必需对其进行稳定性结构修饰并设计合适的生物体内给药系统.     

针对SARS冠状病毒重要蛋白的siRNA设计(英)

RNA干涉(RNA interference, RNAi)是一种特异性地导致转录后基因沉默的现象,在哺乳动物细胞中小分子干扰RNA双链体(small interfering RNA duplexes, siRNA duplexes)可以有效地诱导RNAi现象,为一些疾病的治疗开辟了新的途径.针对SARS冠状病毒(SARS coronavirus, SARS-CoV)中编码5个主要蛋白质的基因,用生物信息学的方法设计了348条候选siRNA靶标.在理论上,相应的siRNA双链体能特异地抑制SARS-CoV靶基因的表达,同时不会影响人体细胞基因的正常表达,这为进一步siRNA类药物的实验研究提供了理论基础.     

H1启动子siRNA载体的构建及应用

利用双链RNA(dsRNA)调控基因表达已经成为研究基因功能的有力工具。用人H1启动子构建了pBS／H1PS小干扰RNA(siRNA)表达载体,用于在哺乳动物细胞中产生特异性dsRNA转录产物。通过对293细胞中的PSMA7分子进行表达抑制,证明该siRNA载体能够有效产生针对靶基因的RNA干扰(RNAi)效应。     

RNA interference using boranophosphate siRNAs: structure-activity relationships

In RNA interference (RNAi), short double-stranded RNA (known as siRNA) inhibits expression from homologous genes. Clinical or pre-clinical use of siRNAs is likely to require stabilizing modifications because of the prevalence of intracellular and extracellular nucleases. In order to examine the effect of modification on siRNA efficacy and stability, we developed a new method for synthesizing stereoregular boranophosphate siRNAs. This work demonstrates that boranophosphate siRNAs are consistently more effective than siRNAs with the widely used phosphorothioate modification. Furthermore, boranophosphate siRNAs are frequently more active than native siRNA if the center of the antisense strand is not modified. Boranophosphate modification also increases siRNA potency. The finding that boranophosphate siRNAs are at least ten times more nuclease resistant than unmodified siRNAs may explain some of the positive effects of boranophosphate modification. The biochemical properties of boranophosphate siRNAs make them promising candidates for an RNAi-based therapeutic.     

干扰小RNA序列非依赖性地影响胰腺癌细胞的基因表达

干扰小RNA(small interference RNA, siRNA)是基因敲减的常用工具,广泛用于基因沉默技术和基因功能研究,在临床疾病治疗等方面也有潜在的应用。一般认为,达到一定长度（比如大于27 bp）的双链RNA可以诱导干扰素反应,降低相关基因的表达。目前,siRNA对基因表达的非特异性作用尚不完全清楚。为研究siRNA干扰的非特异基因表达,本研究以胰腺癌细胞HPAC 和BxPC3 为模型,采用高通量测序技术对6种不同干扰小RNA处理及未作处理的HPAC和BxPC3细胞进行转录组测序分析,筛选出干扰小RNA处理后表达量共同下调的基因进行研究。通过生物信息学方法对表达下调基因的功能进行研究,并利用实时荧光定量PCR(qRT-PCR)技术对部分下调基因进行验证。结果表明,短片段双链小RNA能够显著改变细胞的基因表达,而这些基因表达谱的变化是有规律的,特定功能的基因优先发生变化。在表达下调的基因中,某些特定类型的基因变化非常显著,包括氨基酸代谢相关基因、Hedgehog信号途径基因和多巴胺受体D5基因等。这些结果表明,在使用siRNA时需要考虑其序列非依赖性地基因表达调控作用。     

RNA干扰分子的制作

小干扰RNA是一种能够在各种生物体和细胞(包括蠕虫、果蝇、植物、哺乳动物)中减弱基因表达的有效工具。在哺乳动物中转染的siRNA能够抑制特殊基因的表达,这已经证明是探索基因功能、基因敲除、抗病毒研究、基因治疗的有效方法。简单、有效、特异性地抑制基因的表达具有巨大的科学、商业和医学治疗价值。如何设计和制作siRNA是影响RNA干扰效率的一个很重要的方面。本文就siRNA的设计和制作等方面作扼要的介绍。     

The potential therapeutic of siRNA eye drops in ocular diseases

In recent years, researchers have expressed an ongoing interest in developing RNA interference (RNAi) technology for therapeutic gene suppression in various diseases. Preclinical studies in animal models and cultured cell studies indicated that RNAi technology was an effective experimental tool against a variety of ocular diseases, and some small interference RNA (siRNA) drugs have been entered into clinical trials in Stage I and Stage II. However, in these studies siRNAs were delivered into ocular tissues via either systemic or subconjunctival/intravitreous injection, which is invasive and harmful if repeated. Based on this evidence, we hypothesize that topical application of siRNA eye drops may be a safe and effective therapeutic option in ocular surface diseases with temporary changes of gene expression. Furthermore, siRNA eye drops targeting different genes may simultaneously treat several ocular surface diseases.     

Improvements in siRNA properties mediated by 2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-beta-D-arabinonucleic acid (FANA)

RNA interference (RNAi) has emerged recently as an efficient mechanism for specific gene silencing. Short double-stranded small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are now widely used for cellular or drug target validation; however, their use for silencing clinically relevant genes in a therapeutic setting remains problematic because of their unfavourable metabolic stability and pharmacokinetic properties. To address some of these concerns, we have investigated the properties of siRNA modified with 2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-beta-d-arabinonucleotide units (araF-N or FANA units). Here we provide evidence that these modified siRNAs are compatible with the intracellular RNAi machinery and can mediate specific degradation of target mRNA. We also show that the incorporation of FANA units into siRNA duplexes increases activity and substantially enhances serum stability of the siRNA. A fully modified sense 2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-beta-D-arabinonucleic acid (FANA) strand when hybridized to an antisense RNA (i.e. FANA/RNA hybrid) was shown to be 4-fold more potent and had longer half-life in serum (approximately 6 h) compared with an unmodified siRNA (<15 min). While incorporation of FANA units is well tolerated throughout the sense strand of the duplex, modifications can also be included at the 5' or 3' ends of the antisense strand, in striking contrast to other commonly used chemical modifications. Taken together, these results offer preliminary evidence of the therapeutic potential of FANA modified siRNAs.     

RNA interference mediated inhibition of Chikungunya virus replication in mammalian cells

Chikungunya has emerged as one of the most important arboviral infection of public health significance. Recently several parts of Indian Ocean islands and India witnessed explosive, unprecedented epidemic. So far, there is no effective antiviral or licensed vaccine available against Chikungunya infection. RNA interference mediated inhibition of viral replication has emerged as a promising antiviral strategy. In this study, we examined the effectiveness of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) against the inhibition of Chikungunya virus replication in Vero cells. Two siRNAs against the conserved regions of nsP3 and E1 genes of Chikungunya virus were designed. The siRNA activity was assessed by detecting both the infectious virus and its genome. The results indicated a reduction of virus titer up to 99.6% in siRNA transfected cells compared to control. The viral inhibition was most significant at 24 h (99%), followed by 48 h (65%) post infection. These results were also supported by the quantitative RT-PCR assay revealing similar reduction in Chikungunya viral genomic RNA. The siRNAs used had no effect on the expression of house keeping gene indicating non-interference in cellular mechanism. The specific and marked reduction in viral replication against rapidly replicating Chikungunya virus achieved in this study offers a potential new therapeutic approach. This is the first report demonstrating the effectiveness of siRNA against in vitro replication of Chikungunya virus.     

Incorporation of biaryl units into the 5' and 3' ends of sense and antisense strands of siRNA duplexes improves strand selectivity and nuclease resistance

Small interfering RNA (siRNA) is a noncoding RNA with considerable potential as a new therapeutic drug for intractable diseases. siRNAs can be rationally designed and synthesized if the sequences of the disease-causing genes are known. In this paper, we describe the synthesis and properties of siRNAs modified with biaryl units. We found that incorporation of biaryl units into the 5' and 3' ends of sense and antisense strands of siRNA duplexes improved strand selectivity and nuclease resistance.     

Broad-spectrum antiviral activity of RNA interference against four genotypes of Japanese encephalitis virus based on single microRNA polycistrons

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), a neurotropic mosquito-borne flavivirus, causes acute viral encephalitis and neurologic disease with a high fatality rate in humans and a range of animals. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) is a powerful antiviral agent able to inhibit JEV replication. However, the high rate of genetic variability between JEV strains (of four confirmed genotypes, genotypes I, II, III and IV) hampers the broad-spectrum application of siRNAs, and mutations within the targeted sequences could facilitate JEV escape from RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated antiviral therapy. To improve the broad-spectrum application of siRNAs and prevent the generation of escape mutants, multiple siRNAs targeting conserved viral sequences need to be combined. In this study, using a siRNA expression vector based on the miR-155 backbone and promoted by RNA polymerase II, we initially identified nine siRNAs targeting highly conserved regions of seven JEV genes among strains of the four genotypes of JEV to effectively block the replication of the JEV vaccine strain SA14-14-2. Then, we constructed single microRNA-like polycistrons to simultaneously express these effective siRNAs under a single RNA polymerase II promoter. Finally, these single siRNAs or multiple siRNAs from the microRNA-like polycistrons showed effective anti-virus activity in genotype I and genotype III JEV wild type strains, which are the predominant genotypes of JEV in mainland China. The anti-JEV effect of these microRNA-like polycistrons was also predicted in other genotypes of JEV (genotypes II and IV), The inhibitory efficacy indicated that siRNAs×9 could theoretically inhibit the replication of JEV genotypes II and IV.     

Selection of predicted siRNA as potential antiviral therapeutic agent against influenza virus

Influenza virus A (IVA) infection is responsible for recent death worldwide. Hence, there is a need to develop therapeutic agents against the virus. We describe the prediction of short interfering RNA (siRNA) as potential therapeutic molecules for the HA (Haemagglutinin) and NA (Neuraminidase) genes. We screened 90,522 siRNA candidates for HA and 13,576 for NA and selected 1006 and 1307 candidates for HA and NA, respectively based on the proportion of viral sequences that are targeted by the corresponding siRNA, with complete matches. Further short listing to select siRNA with no off-target hits, fulfilling all the guidelines mentioned in approach, provided us 13 siRNAs for haemagglutinin and 13 siRNAs for neuraminidase. The approach of finding siRNA using multiple sequence alignments of amino acid sequences has led to the identification of five conserved amino acid sequences, three in hemagglutinin i.e. RGLFGAIAGFIE, YNAELLV and AIAGFIE and two in neuraminidase i.e. RTQSEC and EECSYP which on reveres translation provided siRNA sequences as potential therapeutic candidates. The approaches used during this study have enabled us to identify potentially therapeutic siRNAs against divergent IVA strains.