[Antiviral effects of dual-target antisense LNA by cationic liposomes in transgenic mice]

This paper is aimed to investigate the inhibitory effects of hepatitis B virus (HBV) preC and C genes-specific antisense locked nucleic acid (LNA) on HBV replication and expression in transgenic mice. The antisense LNA, which was complementary to the preC and C gene region of HBV, was designed, synthesized, and injected into transgenic mice via the tail vein. Serum HBV DNA was tested with real-time PCR, and Serum HBsAg was tested with time-resolved fluorescence immune assay (TRFIA). Then the expression of HBcAg in the liver was detected with immuneohistochemistry. Serum ALB, ALT, BUN and CRea were measured with an antomatic biochemicall analyzer. It was found that 5 days after LNA injection, serum HBV DNA levels in the dual-target group were reduced by 53.72%, and serum HBsAg levels were decreased by 71.57%. These values were significantly higher than those in the control groups (P<0.05) and the expression levels of HBcAg in the liver were significantly lower than those in the control groups (P<0.05). The result also showed that there were no significant differences discovered in serum ALB, ALT, BUN and CR between the experiment groups and the control groups. The present study provides that antisense LNA targeting to both preC and C genes has shown strong inhibition on HBV replication and expression in transgenic mice, and stronger than target at single gene site.