siRNA MICROBICIDES FOR PREVENTING AND TREATING DISEASES
AssigneesImmune Disease Institute, Inc., President and Fellows of Harvard College
InventorsJudy Lieberman, Deborah Palliser, David Knipe
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Abstract
The invention provides a microbicidal composition comprising at least one siRNA. The siRNA is an RNA duplex made of one or two molecules. A portion of the siRNA is identical to a target sequence in an essential gene of a virus. The virus may be a herpesvirus, for example, HSV-1 or HSV-2. Preferably, the herpesvirus is HSV-2. The microbicidal composition further comprises a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. Also included in the invention are methods to prevent and treat viral infections by administration of the microbicidal composition. Preferably, the microbicidal composition is administered transmucosally.
Claims37
A microbicidal composition comprising at least one siRNA, comprising a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and the siRNA, wherein the siRNA comprises an RNA duplex comprised of one or two molecules, wherein a portion of the molecule comprises a nucleotide sequence having sufficient complementarity to a target sequence of about 15 to about 30 contiguous nucleotides in an RNA of a virus for the siRNA to direct cleavage of the RNA via RNA interference, wherein the virus is selected from the group consisting of picornaviruses, orthomyxoviruses, paramyxoviruses, coronaviruses, adenoviruses, hepadnaviruses, flaviviruses, retroviruses, papillomaviruses and herpesviruses, wherein the target sequence is in a gene essential for infectivity or replication of the virus.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.