Inhibition of Hepatitis B Virus Replication by in vitro Synthesized RNA

• Published in: Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society Vol. 26; no. 9; pp. 1385 - 1389
• Main Authors: Yang, Yeon-Ju, Heo, Young-Shin, Kim, Jeong-Ki, Kim, Sang-Yong, Ahn, Jeong-Keun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Korean
• Published: 대한화학회 01.09.2005
• Subjects: 화학; HBV replication; HBx RNA; siRNA; Hepatitis B virus; New therapeutic agent
• ISSN: 0253-2964; 1229-5949

Human hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a pathogen related to the development of liver diseases including chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the efficient methods to suppress HBV replication have not been developed yet. Therefore, we have used RNA interference (RNAi) as a potential tool for the suppression of HBV replication. Here, we designed a 21 nt small intefering dsRNA (siRNA) against hepatitis B virus X (HBx) RNA with 3' overhanging ends derived from T7 promoter. It has been reported that HBV X protein plays an important role in HBV gene expression and viral replication. The suppression of HBx gene expression by the 21 nt siRNA was investigated by Northern blot analysis and chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) assay. The level of HBx mRNA was decreased by siRNA in a dose-dependent manner. We also found that the 21 nt siRNA inhibited the HBV replication in hepatocellular carcinoma cell.