In vitro inhibition of transmissible gastroenteritis coronavirus replication in swine testicular cells by short hairpin RNAs targeting the ORF 7 gene

Virology Journal

Gang Wang¹  Qing-hai Tang²  Jing Wang¹  Min Cheng¹  Ling-juan Dong¹  Yan-ming Zhang¹  Lei He¹ 

[1] College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A & F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China;State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, Heilongjiang, 150001, China

关键词: ORF 7;    Short hairpin RNA;    RNA interference;    Transmissible gastroenteritis virus;   

Others  :  1154017
DOI  :  10.1186/1743-422X-9-176

 received in 2011-10-08, accepted in 2012-08-22,  发布年份 2012

【 摘 要 】

Background

Transmissible gastroenteritis (TGE) is a highly contagious viral disease of swine, characterized by severe vomiting, diarrhea, and high mortality. Currently, the vaccines for it are only partially effective and no specific drug is available for treatment of TGE virus (TGEV) infection. RNA interference has been confirmed as a new approach for controlling viral infections. In this study, the inhibitory effect of short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) targeting the ORF 7 gene of TGEV on virus replication was examined.

Results

Four theoretically effective sequences of TGEV ORF 7 gene were designed and selected for construction of shRNA expression plasmids. In the reporter assays, three of four shRNA expression plasmids were able to inhibit significantly the expression of ORF 7 gene and replication of TGEV, as shown by real-time quantitative RT-PCR analysis of viral ORF 7 and N genes and detection of virus titers (TCID₅₀/ml). Stable swine testicular (ST) cells expressing the shRNAs were established. Observation of the cytopathic effect and apoptosis, as well as a cell proliferation assay demonstrated that the three shRNAs were capable of protecting ST cells against TGEV destruction, with high specificity and efficiency.

Conclusions

Our results indicated that plasmid-transcribed shRNAs targeting the ORF 7 gene in the TGEV genome effectively inhibited expression of the viral target gene and viral replication in vitro. These findings provide evidence that the shRNAs have potential therapeutic application for treatment of TGE.

【 授权许可】

   
2012 He et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

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