RNAi to treat SARS‐CoV‐2—variant proofing the next generation of therapies

There is an urgent need to bring new antivirals to SARS‐CoV‐2 to the market. Indeed, in the last 3 months, we have seen at least two new antivirals approved, molnupiravir and paxlovid. Both are older established antivirals that show some efficacy against SARS‐CoV‐2. The work by Chang et al (2022) in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:EMBO molecular medicine 2022-04, Vol.14 (4), p.e15811-n/a
Main Authors: McMillan, Nigel A J, Morris, Kevin V, Idris, Adi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Antiviral agents
Antiviral Agents - pharmacology
Antiviral Agents - therapeutic use
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
COVID-19 - therapy
CRISPR
Drugs
EMBO08
EMBO23
News & Views
RNA Interference
RNA polymerase
RNA, Small Interfering - genetics
RNA, Small Interfering - pharmacology
RNA, Small Interfering - therapeutic use
RNA-mediated interference
SARS-CoV-2 - genetics
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
siRNA
Views
Virus Replication
Viruses
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Summary:There is an urgent need to bring new antivirals to SARS‐CoV‐2 to the market. Indeed, in the last 3 months, we have seen at least two new antivirals approved, molnupiravir and paxlovid. Both are older established antivirals that show some efficacy against SARS‐CoV‐2. The work by Chang et al (2022) in the current issue of EMBO Molecular Medicine explores the use of short interfering RNAs to directly target SARS‐CoV‐2 and shows that RNAi is an effective approach to reducing, or even eliminating viral replication, depending on the experimental setting. This antiviral effect results in significant prevention of infection‐related pathology in animals. The key feature of this approach, besides its simplicity as naked siRNAs, is that all current variants are covered by this treatment. Graphical Abstract N. McMillan, K. Morris, and A. Idris discuss development of RNAi‐based therapy against SARS‐CoV‐2 infection as reported by PC. Yang and colleagues, in this issue of EMBO Mol Med .
ISSN:1757-4676
1757-4684
DOI:10.15252/emmm.202215811