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Opportunities for treating chronic hepatitis B and C virus infection using RNA interference
Author(s) -
Arbuthnot P.,
Longshaw V.,
Naidoo T.,
Weinberg M. S.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of viral hepatitis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.329
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1365-2893
pISSN - 1352-0504
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2893.2006.00818.x
Subject(s) - rna interference , virology , hepatitis b virus , gene silencing , virus , hepatitis c virus , cirrhosis , chronic hepatitis , biology , liver cancer , gene , rna , medicine , cancer research , hepatocellular carcinoma , genetics , gastroenterology
Summary. Activating the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway to achieve silencing of specific genes is one of the most exciting new developments of molecular biology. A particularly interesting use of this technology is inhibition of defined viral gene expression. In this review, we discuss the potential application of RNAi to treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Globally, these hepatotropic viruses are the most important causes of cirrhosis and liver cancer. Available treatments have their limitations, which makes development of novel effective RNAi‐based therapies for HBV and HCV especially significant. Several investigations carried out in vitro and in vivo are summarized, which demonstrate proof of principle that HBV and HCV can be inhibited by RNAi activators. Challenges facing further development of this technology to a stage of clinical application are discussed.