Ribozyme Effector Gene in Dengue Fever Transmission and Disease Control

Abstract

Disclosed are anto-DENV ribozyme based methods and compositions useful in the inhibition and control of all Dengue fever serotypes (designated DENV 1 through 4). A group of anti-DENV Group 1 trans-splicing introns (αDENV-GrpIa) are presented that target DENV-2 NGC genomes in situ. Methods for specifically targeting a highly conserved 5′-3′ cyclization sequence (CS) region that is common to all serotypes of the DENV are provided. The anti-DENV Group 1 trans-splicing introns (αDENV-GrpIa) specifically target two different uracil bases on the positive sense genomic strand. The invention provides an RNA based approach for transgeneic suppression of DENV in transformed mosquitoes using a group of specifically designed introns that trans-splice a new RNA sequence downstream of a targeted site. The aDENV-GrpIs target DENV infected genomes and thus provide a method for inhibiting the spread of Dengue fever. An αDENV-GrpI 9v1 is presented that is designed to be active against all forms of Dengue virus, and to effectively target the DENV-2 NGC genome in a sequence specific manner

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