Skip to Content
Merck
  • Suppression of La antigen exerts potential antiviral effects against hepatitis A virus.

Suppression of La antigen exerts potential antiviral effects against hepatitis A virus.

PloS one (2014-07-08)
Xia Jiang, Tatsuo Kanda, Shuang Wu, Shingo Nakamoto, Kengo Saito, Hiroshi Shirasawa, Tomoko Kiyohara, Koji Ishii, Takaji Wakita, Hiroaki Okamoto, Osamu Yokosuka
ABSTRACT

Despite the development and availability of hepatitis A virus (HAV) vaccine, HAV infection is still a major cause of acute hepatitis that occasionally leads to fatal liver disease. HAV internal ribosomal entry-site (IRES) is one of the attractive targets of antiviral agents against HAV. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the impact of La, one of the cellular proteins, on HAV IRES-mediated translation and HAV replication. We investigated the therapeutic feasibility of siRNAs specific for cellular cofactors for HAV IRES-mediated translation in cell culture. It was revealed that siRNA against La could inhibit HAV IRES activities as well as HAV subgenomic replication. We also found that the Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors SD-1029 and AG490, which reduce La expression, could inhibit HAV IRES activities as well as HAV replication. Inhibition of La by siRNAs and chemical agents could lead to the efficient inhibition of HAV IRES-mediated translation and HAV replication in cell culture models. La might play important roles in HAV replication and is being exploited as one of the therapeutic targets of host-targeting antivirals.

MATERIALS
Product Number
Brand
Product Description

Sigma-Aldrich
MISSION® esiRNA, targeting mouse Gapdh
Sigma-Aldrich
MISSION® esiRNA, targeting human PABPC1
Sigma-Aldrich
MISSION® esiRNA, targeting mouse Pabpc1
Sigma-Aldrich
MISSION® esiRNA, targeting human PTBP1
Sigma-Aldrich
MISSION® esiRNA, targeting human GAPDH
Sigma-Aldrich
MISSION® esiRNA, targeting mouse Pcbp2