Int J Biol Sci 2021; 17(6):1521-1529. doi:10.7150/ijbs.59151 This issue Cite

Research Paper

Developing effective siRNAs to reduce the expression of key viral genes of COVID-19

Renfei Wu, Kathy Qian Luo

Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macao SAR, China

Citation:
Wu R, Luo KQ. Developing effective siRNAs to reduce the expression of key viral genes of COVID-19. Int J Biol Sci 2021; 17(6):1521-1529. doi:10.7150/ijbs.59151. https://www.ijbs.com/v17p1521.htm
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Abstract

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The COVID-19 pandemic has been raging worldwide for more than a year. Many efforts have been made to create vaccines and develop new antiviral drugs to cope with the disease. Here, we propose the application of short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to degrade the viral genome, thus reducing viral infection. By introducing the concept of the probability of binding efficiency (PBE) and combining the secondary structures of RNA molecules, we designed 11 siRNAs that target the consensus regions of three key viral genes: the spike (S), nucleocapsid (N) and membrane (M) genes of SARS-CoV-2. The silencing efficiencies of the siRNAs were determined in human lung and endothelial cells overexpressing these viral genes. The results suggested that most of the siRNAs could significantly reduce the expression of the viral genes with inhibition rates above 50% in 24 hours. This work not only provides a strategy for designing potentially effective siRNAs against target genes but also validates several potent siRNAs that can be used in the clinical development of preventative medication for COVID-19 in the future.

Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, RNA secondary structure, siRNA, gene silencing


Citation styles

APA
Wu, R., Luo, K.Q. (2021). Developing effective siRNAs to reduce the expression of key viral genes of COVID-19. International Journal of Biological Sciences, 17(6), 1521-1529. https://doi.org/10.7150/ijbs.59151.

ACS
Wu, R.; Luo, K.Q. Developing effective siRNAs to reduce the expression of key viral genes of COVID-19. Int. J. Biol. Sci. 2021, 17 (6), 1521-1529. DOI: 10.7150/ijbs.59151.

NLM
Wu R, Luo KQ. Developing effective siRNAs to reduce the expression of key viral genes of COVID-19. Int J Biol Sci 2021; 17(6):1521-1529. doi:10.7150/ijbs.59151. https://www.ijbs.com/v17p1521.htm

CSE
Wu R, Luo KQ. 2021. Developing effective siRNAs to reduce the expression of key viral genes of COVID-19. Int J Biol Sci. 17(6):1521-1529.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). See http://ivyspring.com/terms for full terms and conditions.
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