Efficient inhibition of human cytomegalovirus UL122 gene expression in cell by small interfering RNAs

Human cytomegalovirus RL13 protein interacts with host NUDT14 protein affecting viral DNA replication

The interaction between the host and human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is important in determining the outcome of a viral infection. The HCMV RL13 gene product exerts independent, inhibitory effects on viral growth in fibroblasts and epithelial cells. At present, there are few reports on the interactions between the HCMV RL13 protein and human host proteins. The present study provided direct evidence for the specific interaction between HCMV RL13 and host nucleoside diphosphate linked moiety X (nudix)‑type motif 14 (NUDT14), a UDP‑glucose pyrophosphatase, using two‑hybrid screening, an in vitro glutathione S‑transferase pull‑down assay, and co‑immunoprecipitation in human embryonic kidney HEK293 cells. Additionally, the RL13 protein was shown to co‑localize with the NUDT14 protein in the HEK293 cell membrane and cytoplasm, demonstrated using fluorescence confocal microscopy. Decreasing the expression level of NUDT14 via NUDT14‑specific small interfering RNAs increased the number of viral DNA copies in the HCMV‑infected cells. However, the overexpression of NUDT14 in a stably expressing cell line did not affect viral DNA levels significantly in the HCMV infected cells. Based on the known functions of NUDT14, the results of the present study suggested that the interaction between the RL13 protein and NUDT14 protein may be involved in HCMV DNA replication, and that NUDT14 may offer potential in the modulation of viral infection.

An update on the management and prevention of cytomegalovirus infection following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

ABSTRACT 

A significant progress has been made in deciphering critical aspects of the biology and immunology of CMV infection in the allogeneic stem cell transplantation setting. Genetic traits predisposing to active CMV infection and CMV end-organ disease have begun to be delineated. Reliable molecular assays for CMV DNA load quantitation in body fluids have been developed. Elucidation of immune mechanisms affording control of CMV infection will help to improve the management of active CMV infection. Finally, the advent of new CMV-specific antivirals and promising vaccine prototypes as well as the development of fine procedures for large-scale ex vivo generation of functional CMV-specific T cells for adoptive T cell transfer therapies will certainly minimize the negative impact of CMV on survival in these patients.

Human cytomegalovirus replication is strictly inhibited by siRNAs targeting UL54, UL97 or UL122/123 gene transcripts

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) causes severe sequelae in immunocompromised hosts. Current antiviral therapies have serious adverse effects, with treatment in many clinical settings problematic, making new therapeutic approaches necessary. We examined the in vitro efficacy of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) targeting the HCMV gene transcripts UL54 (DNA polymerase), UL97 (protein kinase) and UL122/123 (immediate-early proteins) as inhibitors of viral protein expression and virus replication in cell cultures. Two siRNAs for each HCMV target (designated A and B) were assessed for inhibition efficacy using western blot and standard plaque assays. Continuous human embryonic kidney 293T cells were treated with HCMV or non-specific scrambled (siSc) siRNA followed by transfection with plasmids expressing the target transcripts. Human MRC-5 fibroblasts were HCMV-siRNA or siSc treated, infected with HCMV strain AD169 (1 pfu/cell) and HCMV immediate-early (IE1p72 and IE2p86), early (pp65), early-late (pUL97) and true late (MCP) protein and virus progeny production measured during a single round of replication. Concordant results showed siUL54B, siUL97A and siUL122B displayed the most potent inhibitory effects with a reduction of 92.7%, 99.6% and 93.7% in plasmid protein expression, 65.9%, 58.1% and 64.8% in total HCMV protein expression and 97.2%, 96.2% and 94.3% (p<0.0001) in viral progeny production respectively. Analysing the siRNA inhibitory effects during multiple rounds of HCMV replication at a multiplicity of infection of 0.001 pfu/cell, siUL54B, siUL97A and siUL122B treatment resulted in a reduction of 80.0%, 59.6% and 84.5% in total HCMV protein expression, 52.9%, 49.2% and 58.3% in number of cells infected and 98.5%, 91.4% and 99.1% (p<0.0001) in viral progeny production at 7 dpi respectively. These results suggest potential in vivo siRNA therapies targeting the HCMV gene transcripts UL54, UL97 and UL122/123 would be highly effective, however, the antiviral efficacy of siRNAs targeting UL97 may be more highly dependent on viral load and methods of administration.

RNA interference-mediated targeting of human cytomegalovirus immediate-early or early gene products inhibits viral replication with differential effects on cellular functions

Viral drug toxicity, resistance, and an increasing immunosuppressed population warrant continued research into new avenues for limiting diseases associated with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV). In this study, a small interfering RNA (siRNA), siX3, was designed to target coding sequences within shared exon 3 of UL123 and UL122 transcripts encoding IE1 and IE2 immediate-early proteins of HCMV. Pretreatment of cells with siX3 reduced the levels of viral protein expression, DNA replication, and progeny virus production compared to control siRNA. Two siRNAs against UL54 and overlapping transcripts (UL55-57) were compared to siX3 in HCMV infection and were also found to be effective at inhibiting HCMV replication. Further investigation into the effects of the siRNAs on viral replication showed that pretreatment with each of the siRNAs resulted in an inhibition in the formation of mature replication compartments. The ability of these siRNAs to prevent or reduce certain cytopathic effects associated with HCMV infection was also examined. Infected cells pretreated with siX3, but not siUL54, retained promyelocytic leukemia (PML) protein in cellular PML bodies, an essential component of this host intrinsic antiviral defense. DNA damage response proteins, which are localized in nuclear viral replication compartments, were reduced in the siX3- and siUL54-treated cells. siX3, but not siUL54, prevented DNA damage response signaling early after infection. Therapeutic efficacy was demonstrated by treating cells with siRNAs after HCMV replication had commenced. Together, these findings suggest that siRNAs targeting exon 3 of the major IE genes or the UL54-57 transcripts be further studied for their potential development into anti-HCMV therapeutics.

Comparison of inhibitory efficacy of short interfering RNAs targeting different genes on Measles virus replication

RNA interference (RNAi)-based short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) targeting the viral genes and the host cellular genes have been used to suppress Measles virus (MV) replication in vitro. In order to select suitable target genes and highly effective target sites for developing effective RNAi-mediated anti-MV therapy, in this study, nine short hairpin RNA (shRNA) expression vectors, which expressed siRNAs targeting the host celluar Rab9 GTPase gene, the viral large protein (L) gene and nucleoprotein (N) gene, respectively, were constructed and used to compare their ability to inhibit MV replication in Vero-E6 cells. The results showed that nine siRNAs targeting different genes exhibited different inhibitory efficacy on MV replication in vitro (about 23-94%), which could last at least 168 h post-infection. Of the nine siRNAs, R2, L1 and N2 more effectively decreased MV replication by over 90%. Furthermore, inhibitory efficacy on MV replication were increased and reached almost 100% when cells were transfected with pR2, pL1 and pN2 together. These results emphasis the importance of selecting suitable siRNA target sites for developing siRNAs-based drug therapy for MV, and demonstrate the potential of combination of siRNAs targeting different genes as a therapeutic approach to treat MV infection.