HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Nadal, A. Articles by Gómez, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Nadal, A. Articles by Gómez, J. Agricola Articles by Nadal, A. Articles by Gómez, J.

Characterization of the structure and variability of an internal region of hepatitis C virus RNA for M1 RNA guide sequence ribozyme targeting

¹ Servicio de Medicina Interna-Hepatología, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
² Department of Biochemistry, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY 10021, USA

Correspondence
Jordi Gómez
jgomez{at}hg.vhebron.es

Accessibility to folded RNA and low potential of variation in the target RNA are crucial requirements for ribozyme therapy against virus infections. In hepatitis C virus (HCV), the sequence of the 5'UTR is conserved but the highly folded RNA structure severely limits the number of accessible sites. To expand investigation of targeting in the HCV genome, we have considered an internal genomic region whose sequence variation has been widely investigated and which has a particularly conserved RNA structure, which makes it accessible to the human RNase P in vitro. We have first mapped the accessibility of the genomic RNA to complementary DNAs within this internal genomic region. We performed a kinetic and thermodynamic study. Accordingly, we have designed and assayed four RNase P M1 RNA guide sequence ribozymes targeted to the selected sites. Considerations of RNA structural accessibility and sequence variation indicate that several target sites should be defined for simultaneous attack.

Published ahead of print on 31 March 2003 as DOI 10.1099/vir.0.18898-0.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Martell, C. Briones, A. de Vicente, M. Piron, J. I. Esteban, R. Esteban, J. Guardia, and J. Gomez Structural analysis of hepatitis C RNA genome using DNA microarrays Nucleic Acids Res., June 24, 2004; 32(11): e90 - e90. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]