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Updated: May 7, 2026

Evaluation of the Efficacy And Toxicity of RNAs Targeting HIV-1 Production for Use in Gene or Drug Therapy
Published on: September 5, 2016
Antiviral RNA interference in mammalian cells
P V Maillard1, C Ciaudo, A Marchais
1Department of Biology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH-Z), Zurich, Switzerland.
Abstract:
In antiviral RNA interference (RNAi), the DICER enzyme processes virus-derived double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) into small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) that guide ARGONAUTE proteins to silence complementary viral RNA. As a counterdefense, viruses deploy viral suppressors of RNAi (VSRs). Well-established in plants and invertebrates, the existence of antiviral RNAi remains unknown in mammals. Here, we show that undifferentiated mouse cells infected with encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) or Nodamura virus (NoV) accumulate ~22-nucleotide RNAs with all the signature features of siRNAs. These derive from viral dsRNA replication intermediates, incorporate into AGO2, are eliminated in Dicer knockout cells, and decrease in abundance upon cell differentiation. Furthermore, genetically ablating a NoV-encoded VSR that antagonizes DICER during authentic infections reduces NoV accumulation, which is rescued in RNAi-deficient mouse cells. We conclude that antiviral RNAi operates in mammalian cells.
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