Potent antiviral activity of an antisense oligonucleotide complementary to the intron-exon boundary of human cytomegalovirus genes UL36 and UL37

Abstract

An antisense phosphorothioate oligonucleotide complementary to the intron-exon boundary of human cytomegalovirus genes UL36 and UL37 (UL36ANTI) reduced the yield of infectious virus by 99% and inhibited human cytomegalovirus DNA replication at a concentration of 0.08 microM. In addition, oligonucleotides with base substitutions which resulted in base pair mismatches showed lesser degrees of activity, indicating a sequence-specific antisense mechanism. UL36ANTI was also shown to inhibit DNA replication of ganciclovir-resistant strains and human cytomegalovirus clinical isolates.