Inhibition of Rabies Virus Replication and Infection by Rabies Virus Nucleoprotein Gene siRNA Cocktail

Small interference RNA mixtures (siRNA Cocktails ) of Rabies virus (RV) N gene, P gene and G gene were prepared by digesting long double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) with RNase Ⅲ. These siRNA cocktails were transfecteing into BSR or MNA cell monolayers and the direct immunofluores- cence assay (FA) was used to measure the replication and infection of RV on the cell monolayers. We found that the siRNA Cocktails of N gene can obviously and stably inhibit the replication and infection of RV. A descent of mRNA of N gene was also detected by RT-PCR. Under the same situation, the siRNA Cocktails of P gene or G gene showed no or weak inhibition to the replication and infection of RV. All of these results provide a basis for selecting target gene of RV in RNA itreatment and its further application.