Efficient Inhibition of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Replication Using Novel Modified Microrna-30A Targeting 3'-Untranslated Region Transcripts Publisher



Nejati A¹ ; Shahmahmoodi S¹ ; Arefian E^{2, 3} ; Shoja Z⁴ ; Marashi SM¹ ; Tabatabaie H¹ ; Mollaeikandelous Y⁵ ; Soleimani M^{3, 6} ; Nategh R¹ Show Affiliations
Source: Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine Published:2016

Abstract

RNA interference (RNAi)-based gene therapy is currently considered to be a combinatorial anti-human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) therapy. Although arti­ficial polycistronic microRNAs (miRs) can reduce HIV-1 escape mutant variants, this approach may increase the risk of side effects. The present study aimed to optimize the efficiency of anti-HIV RNAi gene therapy in order to reduce the cell toxicity induced by multi-short hairpin RNA expression. An artificial miR-30a-3'-untranslated region (miR-3'-UTR) obtained from a single RNA polymerase II was used to simultaneously target all viral transcripts. The results of the present study demonstrated that HIV-1 replication was signifi­cantly inhibited in the cells with the miR-3'-UTR construct, suggesting that miR-3'-UTR may serve as a promising tool for RNAi-based gene therapy in the treatment of HIV-1. © 2016, Spandidos Publications. All Rights Reserved.