Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 1, 2025

Dissecting Innate Immune Signaling in Viral Evasion of Cytokine Production
Published on: March 2, 2014
Alphavirus infection triggers antiviral RNAi immunity in mammals
Jing Kong1, Yuanyuan Bie1, Wenting Ji2
1State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
Abstract:
RNA interference (RNAi) is a well-established antiviral immunity. However, for mammalian somatic cells, antiviral RNAi becomes evident only when viral suppressors of RNAi (VSRs) are disabled by mutations or VSR-targeting drugs, thereby limiting its scope as a mammalian immunity. We find that a wild-type alphavirus, Semliki Forest virus (SFV), triggers the Dicer-dependent production of virus-derived small interfering RNAs (vsiRNAs) in both mammalian somatic cells and adult mice. These SFV-vsiRNAs are located at a particular region within the 5' terminus of the SFV genome, Argonaute loaded, and active in conferring effective anti-SFV activity. Sindbis virus, another alphavirus, also induces vsiRNA production in mammalian somatic cells. Moreover, treatment with enoxacin, an RNAi enhancer, inhibits SFV replication dependent on RNAi response in vitro and in vivo and protects mice from SFV-induced neuropathogenesis and lethality. These findings show that alphaviruses trigger the production of active vsiRNA in mammalian somatic cells, highlighting the functional importance and therapeutic potential of antiviral RNAi in mammals.
More Related Videos
06:02Arbovirus Infections As Screening Tools for the Identification of Viral Immunomodulators and Host Antiviral Factors
Published on: September 13, 2018
06:44Confocal Imaging of Double-Stranded RNA and Pattern Recognition Receptors in Negative-Sense RNA Virus Infection
Published on: January 26, 2019
Related Concept Videos
Viruses with RNA Genomes
Viral Mutations
Experimental RNAi
Viral Recombination
Viruses of Archaea
Retrovirus Life Cycles