Stable inhibition of hepatitis B virus proteins by small interfering RNA expressed from viral vectors

BACKGROUND: There has been much research into the use of RNA interference (RNAi) for the treatment of human diseases. Many viruses, including hepatitis B virus (HBV), are susceptible to inhibition by this mechanism. However, for RNAi to be effective therapeutically, a suitable delivery system is required. METHODS: Here we identify an RNAi sequence active against the HBV surface antigen (HBsAg), and demonstrate its expression from a polymerase III expression cassette. The expression cassette was inserted into two different vector systems, based on either prototype foamy virus (PFV) or adeno-associated virus (AAV), both of which are non-pathogenic and capable of integration into cellular DNA. The vectors containing the HBV-targeted RNAi molecule were introduced into 293T.HBs cells, a cell line stably expressing HBsAg. The vectors were also assessed in HepG2.2.15 cells, which secrete infectious HBV virions. RESULTS: Seven days post-transduction, a knockdown of HBsAg by approximately 90%, compared with controls, was detected in 293T.HBs cells transduced by shRNA encoding PFV and AAV vectors. This reduction has been observed up to 5 months post-transduction in single cell clones. Both vectors successfully inhibited HBsAg expression from HepG2.2.15 cells even in the presence of HBV replication. RT-PCR of RNA extracted from these cells showed a reduction in the level of HBV pre-genomic RNA, an essential replication intermediate and messenger RNA for HBV core and polymerase proteins, as well as the HBsAg messenger RNA. CONCLUSIONS: This work is the first to demonstrate that delivery of RNAi by viral vectors has therapeutic potential for chronic HBV infection and establishes the ground work for the use of such vectors in vivo.     

Transiently expressed short hairpin RNA targeting 126 kDa protein of tobacco mosaic virus interferes with virus infection

RNA-interference (RNAi) silences gene expression by'guiding mRNA degradation in asequence-specific fashion.Small interfering RNA (siRNA),an intermediate of the RNAi pathway,has beenshown to be very effective in inhibiting virus infection in mammalian cells and cultured plant cells.Here,wereport that Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transient expression of short hairpin RNA (shRNA) couldinhibit tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) RNA accumulation by targeting the gene encoding the replication-asso-ciated 126 kDa protein in intact plant tissue.Our results indicate that transiently expressed shRNA efficientlyinterfered with TMV infection.The interference observed is sequence-specific,and time-and site-dependent.Transiently expressed shRNA corresponding to the TMV 126 kDa protein gene did not inhibit cucumbermosaic virus (CMV),an unrelated tobamovirus.In order to interfere with TMV accumulation in tobaccoleaves,it is essential for the shRNA constructs to be infiltrated into the same leaves as TMV inoculation.Ourresults support the view that RNAi opens the door for novel therapeutic procedures against virus diseases.We propose that a combination of the RNAi technique and Agrobacterium-mediated transient expressioncould be employed as a potent antiviral treatment in plants.     

A retrovirus-based system to stably silence hepatitis B virus genes by RNA interference

RNA interference (RNAi) might be an efficient antiviral therapy for some obstinate illness. Herein, a retrovirus-based RNAi system was developed to drive expression and delivery of Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-specific short hairpin RNA (shRNA) in HepG2 cells. The levels of HBsAg and HBeAg and that of HBV mRNA were dramatically decreased by this RNAi system in HepG2 cells transfected with Topo-HBV plasmid. Retrovirus-based RNAi thus may be useful for therapy in HBV and other viral infections and provide new clues for prophylactic vaccine development.     

靶向HBs基因的shRNA表达载体的构建及其抑制HepG2.2.15表达HBVsAg的作用

探索用PGenesil-1(Pg)构建的靶向乙型肝炎病毒表面抗原(HBsAg)基因的shRNA表达载体PGenesil-1-HBs(简称Pgs),对体外培养HepG2.2.15细胞中的HBV基因及其抗原表达的抑制作用.设计、合成靶向HBV S区的3对DNA序列,分别插入PGenesil-1中构建3个siRNA表达载体Pgs1、Pgs2、Pgs3,经限制性内切酶,DNA序列测定等技术鉴定确认.筛选并确定最佳细胞接种量及重组质粒转染量后,分别或按不同组合转染HepG-2.2.15细胞,48 h后采用半定量RT-PCR检测HBVsmRNA转录水平,免疫细胞化学技术检测HBsAg表达水平,MEIA分别检测细胞裂解液和培养上清中HBsAg和HBeAg的表达水平.结果表明,HBV真核表达载体Pgs1、Pgs2、Pgs3均能不同程度地抑制HepG2.2.15细胞中的HBsAg、HBeAg合成和HBs-mRNA转录.成功构建的HBV真核表达载体Pgs1、Pgs2、Pgs3,其中PgS3能显著抑制HBsAg表达(P＜0.01).多种表达载体联合对抗原表达的抑制作用效率不同.     

Comparison of bovine RNA polymerase III promoters for short hairpin RNA expression

RNA interference (RNAi) mediated by DNA-based expression of short hairpin RNA (shRNA) is a powerful method of sequence-specific gene knockdown. A number of vectors for expression of shRNA have been developed that feature promoters from RNA polymerase III (pol III)-transcribed genes of mouse or human origin. To advance the use of RNAi as a tool for functional genomic research and for future development of specific therapeutics in the bovine species, we have developed shRNA expression vectors that feature novel bovine RNA pol III promoters. We characterized two bovine U6 small nuclear RNA (snRNA) promoters (bU6-2 and bU6-3) and a bovine 7SK snRNA promoter (b7SK). We compared the efficiency of each of these promoters to express shRNA molecules. Promoter activity was measured in the context of RNAi by targeting and suppressing the reporter gene encoding enhanced green fluorescent protein. Results show that the b7SK promoter induced the greatest level of suppression in a range of cell lines. The comparison of these bovine promoters in shRNA expression is an important component for the future development of bovine-specific RNAi-based research.     

RNAi-mediated inhibition of HIV-1 by targeting partially complementary viral sequences

Potent antiviral RNAi can be induced by intracellular expression of short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) and artificial microRNAs (miRNAs). Expression of shRNA and miRNA results in target mRNA degradation (perfect base pairing) or translational repression (partial base pairing). Although efficient inhibition can be obtained, error-prone viruses such as human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) can escape from RNAi-mediated inhibition by mutating the target sequence. Recently, artificial miRNAs have been shown to be potent RNAi inducers due to their efficient processing by the RNAi machinery. Furthermore, miRNAs may be more proficient in suppressing imperfect targets than shRNAs. In this study, we tested the knockdown efficiency of miRNAs and shRNAs against wild-type and RNAi-escape HIV-1 variants with one or two mutations in the target sequence. ShRNAs and miRNAs can significantly inhibit the production of HIV-1 variants with mutated target sequences in the open reading frame. More pronounced mutation-tolerance was measured for targets in the 3′ untranslated region (3′ UTR). Partially complementary sequences within the 3′ UTR of the HIV-1 RNA genome efficiently act as target sites for miRNAs and shRNAs. These data suggest that targeting imperfect target sites by antiviral miRNAs or shRNAs provides an alternative RNAi approach for inhibition of pathogenic viruses.     

Two approaches to construct mammalian expression vector of shRNA to reduce expression and replication of HBV in vitro

Two approaches have been developed to construct plasmids that mediate RNA interference to inhibit the replication and expression of HBV in 2.2.15 cell. The overlapping PCR extension and restriction enzyme-digestion were used to generate DNA fragments encoding designed shRNA based on sequences of ORF C of HBV genome. The pU6 derived vectors were constructed to develop plasmid based shRNA delivery systems termed pU6/HBVi. There were significant reductions in the expression of HBsAg and HBeAg between cells transfected with pU6/HBVi and control groups (as to HBsAg: P < 0. 01; and HBeAg: P < 0. 01). Consistently, the HBV DNA copies were reduced from 2.71 x 10(7) to <5 x 10(2) copies with or without pU6/HBVi. These results suggested that shRNA delivery by recombinant plasmids harboring shRNA encoding DNA fragment of interest generated either by overlapping PCR extension or restriction enzyme-digestion, could inhibit expressions of viral proteins and reduce viral replications. The pU6 derived plasmids might be a useful shRNA delivery system in mammalian cells. In addition, we found siRNA based on stealth 2311 was a potent RNAi target of HBV genome.     

小环载体介导的siRNA 稳定抑制乙肝病毒的复制和表达

【目的】尝试构建表达小干扰RNA(small interfering RNA,siRNA)的小环载体,并初步鉴定其对乙肝病毒(hepatitis B virus,HBV)复制及其基因表达的抑制作用。【方法】设计并合成靶向HBV S区的siRNA,将其克隆到小环载体pMC.BESPX-MCS2上,测序正确后将重组体pMC-H1-siHBS-U6转化入感受态E.coliZYCY10P3S2T,然后在培养基中加入L-阿拉伯糖,诱导其降解细菌骨架,获取只含有目的基因表达盒的小环RNA干扰载体pmc-H1-siHBS-U6。将小环RNA干扰载体与HBV真核表达质粒pHBV1.3共转染Huh-7细胞,分别在转染后1-7天,ELISA法检测Huh-7细胞上清中的HBsAg、HBeAg,并且通过Real-time RT-PCR法分析干扰RNA对HBV DNA及mRNA的抑制效果。【结果】成功构建了靶向HBV S基因的siRNA小环表达载体pmc-H1-siHBS-U6。该载体能显著抑制Huh-7细胞HBsAg和HBeAg分泌,并且其抑制效果能够维持2-3周时间。Real-time PCR证实HBV的DNA与mRNA水平分别降低了71%和80%,而对照siRNA及空载体则无此作用。【结论】成功构建了靶向HBV的小环RNA干扰载体,并且其能稳定、高效、特异地抑制HBV基因的表达与复制,该研究不仅对探索HBV的基因治疗提供了重要线索,而且为RNA干扰的应用提供了新的运载体系。