4 Andes Biotechnologies Global Inc. (États-Unis)
4 Andes Biotechnologies Global Inc. (États-Unis)
5 VIM (UR 0892) - Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaires (INRAE Domaine de Vilvert F-78352 Jouy-en-Josas cedex - France)
- UVSQ - Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (55 avenue de Paris - 78035 Versailles cedex - France)
- Université Paris-Saclay (Bâtiment Bréguet, 3 Rue Joliot Curie 2e ét, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette - France)
- INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement : UMR0892 (France)
Résumé
The severity of the global COVID-19 pandemic, with a high transmission rate, 2.6-4.7% lethality and a huge economic impact, poses an urgent need for efficient medical treatments and vaccines. Currently, there are only non-specific treatments to assist the patients in acute respiratory distress during the inflammatory step following the preliminary infection by SARS-CoV-2. Clinical trials of drug repurposing were quickly launched at the international level. Specific treatments such as the transfusion of plasma from patients who have recovered into infected patients or the use of specific inhibitors of the viral RNA-polymerase complex are promising strategies to block infection. To complete the therapeutic arsenal, we believe that the opportunity of targeting the SARS-CoV-2 genome by RNA therapy should be deeply investigated. In the present paper, we propose to design specific antisense oligonucleotides targeting transcripts encoding viral proteins associated to replication and transcription of SARS-CoV-2, aiming to block infection. We designed antisense oligonucleotides targeting the genomic 5’ untranslated region (5’-UTR), open reading frames 1a and 1b (ORF1a and ORF1b) governing expression of the replicase/transcriptase complex, and the gene N encoding the nucleoprotein that is genome-associated. To maximize the probability of efficiency, we predicted the antisense oligonucleotides by using two design methods: i) conventional antisense oligonucleotides with 100% phosphorothioate modifications (ASO); ii) antisense locked nucleic acids GapmeR. After binding the viral RNA target, the hetero-duplexes antisense oligonucleotide-RNA are cleaved by RNAse H1. Nine potent ASO candidates were found and we selected five of them targeting ORF1a (3), ORF1b (1) and N (1). Nine GapmeR candidates were predicted with excellent properties and we retained four of them targeting 5’-UTR (1), ORF1a (3), ORF1b (1) and N (1). The most potent GapmeR candidate targets the 5’-UTR, a key genomic domain with multiple functions in the viral cycle. By this open publication, we are pleased to share these in silico results with the scientific community in hopes of stimulating innovation in translational research in order to fight the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. These antisense oligonucleotide candidates should be now experimentally evaluated.
Domaines
Origine | Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s) |
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Origine | Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s) |
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https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-04106554
Soumis le : jeudi 25 mai 2023-15:27:37
Dernière modification le : mardi 9 septembre 2025-15:36:30
Dates et versions
- HAL Id : hal-04106554 , version 1
- DOI : 10.20944/preprints202004.0412.v1