Liu Y, Chen YC, Yan B, Liu F. Suppressing Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Lytic Gene Expression and Replication by RNase P Ribozyme.
Molecules 2023;
28:molecules28083619. [PMID:
37110852 PMCID:
PMC10142857 DOI:
10.3390/molecules28083619]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2023] [Revised: 04/16/2023] [Accepted: 04/17/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Kaposi's sarcoma, an AIDS-defining illness, is caused by Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), an oncogenic virus. In this study, we engineered ribozymes derived from ribonuclease P (RNase P) catalytic RNA with targeting against the mRNA encoding KSHV immediate early replication and transcription activator (RTA), which is vital for KSHV gene expression. The functional ribozyme F-RTA efficiently sliced the RTA mRNA sequence in vitro. In cells, KSHV production was suppressed with ribozyme F-RTA expression by 250-fold, and RTA expression was suppressed by 92-94%. In contrast, expression of control ribozymes hardly affected RTA expression or viral production. Further studies revealed both overall KSHV early and late gene expression and viral growth decreased because of F-RTA-facilitated suppression of RTA expression. Our results indicate the first instance of RNase P ribozymes having potential for use in anti-KSHV therapy.
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