Catalytic M1GS RNA as an antiviral agent in animals

Ribozyme-Mediated Downregulation Uncovers DNA Integrity Scanning Protein A (DisA) as a Solventogenesis Determinant in Clostridium beijerinckii

Carbon catabolite repression (CCR) limits microbial utilization of lignocellulose-derived pentoses. To relieve CCR in Clostridium beijerinckii NCIMB 8052, we sought to downregulate catabolite control protein A (CcpA) using the M1GS ribozyme technology. A CcpA-specific ribozyme was constructed by tethering the catalytic subunit of Escherichia coli RNase P (M1 RNA) to a guide sequence (GS) targeting CcpA mRNA (M1GS^CcpA). As negative controls, the ribozyme M1GS^CcpA–Sc (constructed with a scrambled GS^CcpA) or the empty plasmid pMTL500E were used. With a ∼3-fold knockdown of CcpA mRNA in C. beijerinckii expressing M1GS^CcpA (C. beijerinckii_M1GS^CcpA) relative to both controls, a modest enhancement in mixed-sugar utilization and solvent production was achieved. Unexpectedly, C. beijerinckii_M1GS^CcpA–Sc produced 50% more solvent than C. beijerinckii_pMTL500E grown on glucose + arabinose. Sequence complementarity (albeit suboptimal) suggested that M1GS^CcpA–Sc could target the mRNA encoding DNA integrity scanning protein A (DisA), an expectation that was confirmed by a 53-fold knockdown in DisA mRNA levels. Therefore, M1GS^CcpA–Sc was renamed M1GS^DisA. Compared to C. beijerinckii_M1GS^CcpA and _pMTL500E, C. beijerinckii_M1GS^DisA exhibited a 7-fold decrease in the intracellular c-di-AMP level after 24 h of growth and a near-complete loss of viability upon exposure to DNA-damaging antibiotics. Alterations in c-di-AMP-mediated signaling and cell cycling likely culminate in a sporulation delay and the solvent production gains observed in C. beijerinckii_M1GS^DisA. Successful knockdown of the CcpA and DisA mRNAs demonstrate the feasibility of using M1GS technology as a metabolic engineering tool for increasing butanol production in C. beijerinckii.

Inhibition of hepatitis C virus by an M1GS ribozyme derived from the catalytic RNA subunit of Escherichia coli RNase P

BACKGROUND

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a human pathogen causing chronic liver disease in about 200 million people worldwide. However, HCV resistance to interferon treatment is one of the important clinical implications, suggesting the necessity to seek new therapies. It has already been shown that some forms of the catalytic RNA moiety from E. coli RNase P, M1 RNA, can be introduced into the cytoplasm of mammalian cells for the purpose of carrying out targeted cleavage of mRNA molecules. Our study is to use an engineering M1 RNA (i.e. M1GS) for inhibiting HCV replication and demonstrates the utility of this ribozyme for antiviral applications.

RESULTS

By analyzing the sequence and structure of the 5' untranslated region of HCV RNA, a putative cleavage site (C67-G68) was selected for ribozyme designing. Based on the flanking sequence of this site, a targeting M1GS ribozyme (M1GS-HCV/C67) was constructed by linking a custom guide sequence (GS) to the 3' termini of catalytic RNA subunit (M1 RNA) of RNase P from Escherichia coli through an 88 nt-long bridge sequence. In vitro cleavage assays confirmed that the engineered M1GS ribozyme cleaved the targeted RNA specifically. Moreover, ~85% reduction in the expression levels of HCV proteins and >1000-fold reduction in viral growth were observed in supernatant of cultured cells that transfected the functional ribozyme. In contrast, the HCV core expression and viral growth were not significantly affected by a "disabled" ribozyme (i.e. M1GS-HCV/C67*). Moreover, cholesterol-conjugated M1GS ribozyme (i.e. Chol-M1GS-HCV/C67) showed almost the same bioactivities with M1GS-HCV/C67, demonstrating the potential to improve in vivo pharmacokinetic properties of M1GS-based RNA therapeutics.

CONCLUSION

Our results provide direct evidence that the M1GS ribozyme can function as an antiviral agent and effectively inhibit gene expression and multiplication of HCV.