Premium
Modulating viral gene expression by aptamers to RNA structures
Author(s) -
Toulmé JeanJacques,
Darfeuille Fabien,
Kolb Gaëlle,
Chabas Sandrine,
Staedel Cathy
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
biology of the cell
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.543
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1768-322X
pISSN - 0248-4900
DOI - 10.1016/s0248-4900(03)00036-4
Subject(s) - biology , rna , aptamer , oligonucleotide , microbiology and biotechnology , transcription (linguistics) , internal ribosome entry site , hiv long terminal repeat , in vitro , reporter gene , gene expression , gene , translation (biology) , messenger rna , ribosome , virology , biochemistry , long terminal repeat , linguistics , philosophy
Oligonucleotides exhibiting a strong affinity and a high specificity for RNA hairpins were obtained by in vitro selection. Such oligomers give rise to loop—loop complexes with the target hairpins: the trans ‐activation responsive (TAR) element of the Human Immunodeficiency virus‐1 (HIV‐1) or subdomains of the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) mRNA. Chemically modified derivatives of an antiTAR aptamer were shown to compete out the binding of the viral protein Tat and to selectively inhibit the in vitro TAR‐dependent transcription of a reporter gene. In addition, antisense oligomers derived from sequences selected against the domain IIId of the HCV internal ribosome entry site were shown to specifically block translation both in a cell‐free assay and in cultured cells.