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(2'-5')Oligoadenylate and intracellular immunity against retrovirus infection
H C Schröder1, R J Suhadolnik, W Pfleiderer
1Institut für Physiologische Chemie, Abteilung Angewandte Molekularbiologie Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, Fed. Rep. Germany.
Abstract:
1. The double-stranded RNA-dependent 2',5'-oligoadenylate (2-5A) synthetase/ribonuclease L (RNase L) system plays an essential role in the establishment of the antiviral state of a cell exposed to virus infection. 2. Until recently, the application of 2-5A derivatives to reinforce this system seemed to be limited mainly due to the low specificity of RNase L for viral RNA. 3. Two new strategies have been developed which yield a selective antiviral effect of 2-5As at least against human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) infection: (i) an "intracellular immunization" approach using 2-5A synthetase cDNA linked to HIV trans-acting response element (TAR) and (ii) inhibition of retroviral reverse transcriptase activity by 2-5A analogues.