AIM: To present an approach for selectively killing retrovirus-infected cells that combines the toxicity of Pseudomonas exotoxin (PE) and the presence of reverse transcriptase (RT) in infected cells. METHODS: PE antisense toxin RNA has palindromic stem loops at its 5' and 3' ends enabling self-primed generation of cDNA in the presence of RT. The RT activity expressed in retrovirus-infected cells converts "antisense-toxin-RNA" into a lethal toxin gene exclusively in these cells. RESULTS: Using cotransfection studies with PE-expressing RNAs and beta-gal expressing reporter plasmids, we show that, in HepG2 and HepG2.2.15 hepatoma cells as well as in duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) infected cells, HBV or DHBV-polymerase reverse transcribe a lethal cDNA copy of an antisense toxin RNA, which is composed of sequences complementary to a PE gene and eukaryotic transcription and translation signals. CONCLUSION: This finding may have important implications as a novel therapeutic strategy aimed at the elimination of HBV infection.
AIM: To present an approach for selectively killing retrovirus-infected cells that combines the toxicity of Pseudomonas exotoxin (PE) and the presence of reverse transcriptase (RT) in infected cells. METHODS: PE antisense toxin RNA has palindromic stem loops at its 5' and 3' ends enabling self-primed generation of cDNA in the presence of RT. The RT activity expressed in retrovirus-infected cells converts "antisense-toxin-RNA" into a lethal toxin gene exclusively in these cells. RESULTS: Using cotransfection studies with PE-expressing RNAs and beta-gal expressing reporter plasmids, we show that, in HepG2 and HepG2.2.15 hepatoma cells as well as in duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) infected cells, HBV or DHBV-polymerase reverse transcribe a lethal cDNA copy of an antisense toxin RNA, which is composed of sequences complementary to a PE gene and eukaryotic transcription and translation signals. CONCLUSION: This finding may have important implications as a novel therapeutic strategy aimed at the elimination of HBV infection.
Authors: L J Stuyver; S A Locarnini; A Lok; D D Richman; W F Carman; J L Dienstag; R F Schinazi Journal: Hepatology Date: 2001-03 Impact factor: 17.425
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