Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2006;173(173):117-50.
doi: 10.1007/3-540-27262-3_7.

RNA interference: its use as antiviral therapy

J Haasnoot  1 , B Berkhout
Affiliations
Review

RNA interference: its use as antiviral therapy

J Haasnoot et al. Handb Exp Pharmacol. 2006.

Abstract

RNA interference (RNAi) is a sequence-specific gene-silencing mechanism that has been proposed to function as a defence mechanism of eukaryotic cells against viruses and transposons. RNAi was first observed in plants in the form of a mysterious immune response to viral pathogens. But RNAi is more than just a response to exogenous genetic material. Small RNAs termed microRNA (miRNA) regulate cellular gene expression programs to control diverse steps in cell development and physiology. The discovery that exogenously delivered short interfering RNA (siRNA) can trigger RNAi in mammalian cells has made it into a powerful technique for generating genetic knock-outs. It also raises the possibility to use RNAi technology as a therapeutic tool against pathogenic viruses. Indeed, inhibition of virus replication has been reported for several human pathogens including human immunodeficiency virus, the hepatitis B and C viruses and influenza virus. We reviewed the field of antiviral RNAi research in 2003 (Haasnoot et al. 2003), but many new studies have recently been published. In this review, we present a complete listing of all antiviral strategies published up to and including December 2004. The latest developments in the RNAi field and their antiviral application are described.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Adelman Z.N., Blair C.D., Carlson J.O., Beaty B.J., Olson K.E. Sindbis virus-induced silencing of dengue viruses in mosquitoes. Insect Mol Biol. 2001;10:265–273. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2583.2001.00267.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Adelman Z.N., Sanchez-Vargas I., Travanty E.A., Carlson J.O., Beaty B.J., Blair C.D., Olson K.E. RNA silencing of dengue virus type 2 replication in transformed C6/36 mosquito cells transcribing an inverted-repeat RNA derived from the virus genome. J Virol. 2002;76:12925–12933. doi: 10.1128/JVI.76.24.12925-12933.2002. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Anderson J., Banerjea A., Akkina R. Bispecific short hairpin siRNA constructs targeted to CD4, CXCR4, and CCR5 confer HIV-1 resistance. Oligonucleotides. 2003;13:303–312. doi: 10.1089/154545703322616989. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Andersson M.G., Haasnoot P.C.J., Xu N., Berenjian S., Berkhout B., Akusjärvi G. Suppression of RNA interference by adenovirus VA RNA. J Virol. 2005;79:9556–9565. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arrighi J.F., Pion M., Wiznerowicz M., Geijtenbeek T.B., Garcia E., Abraham S., Leuba F., Dutoit V., Ducrey-Rundquist O., van Kooyk Y., Trono D., Piguet V. Lentivirus-mediated RNA interference of DC-SIGN expression inhibits human immunodeficiency virus transmission from dendritic cells to T cells. J Virol. 2004;78:10848–10855. doi: 10.1128/JVI.78.20.10848-10855.2004. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types