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Updated: Jul 10, 2026

siRNA Electroporation to Modulate Autophagy in Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1-Infected Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cells
Published on: October 28, 2019
Inhibition of herpes simplex virus type 1 by small interfering RNA
1Department of Infectious Diseases, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Background:
RNA interference, a conserved mechanism in which a sequence-specific gene-silencing process is mediated by small interfering RNA (siRNA), is a promising method of gene therapy in treating a variety of viral diseases.
Aim:
To investigate the antiviral effects of siRNA on herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) replication in Vero cells.
Methods:
The antiviral effects of siRNA duplexes targeting the VP16 and DNA polymerase genes of HSV-1 were evaluated by yield-reduction and plaque-reduction assays. The effect of siRNA on the expression of target genes was measured by real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR.
Results:
Two siRNA duplexes (siRNA-1, targeting VP16, and siRNA-4, targeting DNA polymerase), were found to be highly effective in inhibiting HSV-1 replication. siRNA-1 and siRNA-4 reduced HSV-1 replication by around 2 log(10) and 1 log(10) in the yield--reduction assay and by approximately 85% and approximately 70% in the plaque-reduction assay, respectively. Significant decreases in the mRNA level of VP16 and DNA polymerase genes were detected after viral infection in the Vero cells pretreated with siRNA-1 and siRNA-4, respectively.
Conclusion:
:These results indicate that siRNA can potently inhibit HSV-1 replication in vitro, suggesting that siRNA-based antiviral therapy may be a potential effective therapeutic alternative for patients with HSV-1 infection.
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