Study on the in vitro cleavage activity of an artificial HCV-specific M1GS ibozyme
HCV特异性M1GS核酶的构建及体外切割活性研究

In this study, a sequence-specific M1GS ribozyme (M1GS-HCV/C20) has been successfully constructed by covalently linking an oligonucleotide (guide sequence, GS) to the 3' terminus of M1 RNA, the catalytic subunit of RNase P from Escherichia coli. The engineered ribozyme is targeted to the most conservative sequence (5'UTR) of HCV genome, and can effectively cleave the substrate RNA segment in vitro. Undoubtly, the M1GS-HCV/C20 we got would be a useful experimental material to futher study its cleavage activity in vivo, and can be even used for evaluating its anti-viral effect in the animal model. It was believed that this study would markedly facilitate the research of a general gene targeting agent for anti-HCV applications, and layed the foundation for developing a new nucleic acid drug and a novel strategy of anti-HCV therapy.