Inhibition of Measles virus multiplication in cell culture by RNA interference

Measles takes a toll of one million people a year worldwide, especially in developing countries. As the so far applied vaccines were not able to control this disease, novel approaches to this problem are needed. In this study, we investigated the possibility of inhibition of Measles virus (MV) infection through RNA interference (RNAi), namely the interference with the second but main receptor of MV, signaling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM), in an Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-transformed marmoset B cell line B95-8. Three potential target sequences in the SLAM gene were chosen and cloned into the pSilencer 3.0-H1 vector. The vector constructs were used for transfection of B95-8 cells in which SLAM was then detected by flow cytometry, Western blot analysis and RT-PCR both at transcription and expression levels. One of the vector constructs was found to block effectively the SLAM expression as well as MV infection. These results suggest that RNAi could silence SLAM expression and inhibit the MV infection of host cells.