G-quadruplex-forming small RNA inhibits coronavirus and influenza A virus replication.

ABSTRACT: Future pandemic threats may be caused by novel coronaviruses and influenza A viruses. Here we show that when directly added to a cell culture, 12mer guanine RNA (G12) and its phosphorothioate-linked derivatives (G12(S)), rapidly entered cytoplasm and suppressed the propagation of human coronaviruses and influenza A viruses to between 1/100 and nearly 1/1000 of normal virus infectivity without cellular toxicity and induction of innate immunity. Moreover, G12(S) alleviated the weight loss caused by coronavirus infection in mice. G12(S) might exhibit a stable G-tetrad with left-handed parallel-stranded G-quadruplex, and inhibit the replication process by impeding interaction between viral nucleoproteins and viral RNA in the cytoplasm. Unlike previous antiviral strategies that target the G-qua

SUBMITTER: Sekine R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11735773 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature