Small interfering RNA (siRNA)-based therapeutic applications against viruses: principles, potential, and challenges.
J Biomed Sci
; 30(1): 88, 2023 Oct 16.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37845731
ABSTRACT
RNA has emerged as a revolutionary and important tool in the battle against emerging infectious diseases, with roles extending beyond its applications in vaccines, in which it is used in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since their development in the 1990s, RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics have demonstrated potential in reducing the expression of disease-associated genes. Nucleic acid-based therapeutics, including RNAi therapies, that degrade viral genomes and rapidly adapt to viral mutations, have emerged as alternative treatments. RNAi is a robust technique frequently employed to selectively suppress gene expression in a sequence-specific manner. The swift adaptability of nucleic acid-based therapeutics such as RNAi therapies endows them with a significant advantage over other antiviral medications. For example, small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are produced on the basis of sequence complementarity to target and degrade viral RNA, a novel approach to combat viral infections. The precision of siRNAs in targeting and degrading viral RNA has led to the development of siRNA-based treatments for diverse diseases. However, despite the promising therapeutic benefits of siRNAs, several problems, including impaired long-term protein expression, siRNA instability, off-target effects, immunological responses, and drug resistance, have been considerable obstacles to the use of siRNA-based antiviral therapies. This review provides an encompassing summary of the siRNA-based therapeutic approaches against viruses while also addressing the obstacles that need to be overcome for their effective application. Furthermore, we present potential solutions to mitigate major challenges.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Vírus
/
COVID-19
Limite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Biomed Sci
Assunto da revista:
MEDICINA
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Coréia do Sul