Adeno-Associated Viruses Serotype 2-Mediated RNA Interference Efficiently Inhibits Rabies Virus Replication In Vitro and In Vivo

WU, Hong-Xia; WANG, Hua-Lei; GUO, Xiao-Feng; YANG, Yu-Jiao; MA, Jin-Zhu; WANG, Tie-Cheng; GAO, Yu-Wei; ZHAO, Yong-Kun; YANG, Song-Tao; XIA, Xian-Zhu

To test whether the inhibition of RAbV replication observed in vitro for rAAV-N796 was adequate for protection in vivo, we used an established bALb/c mouse model of RAbV. To test whether rAAV-N796 could protect mice from RAbV infection in the brain, as shown in Fig. 3A , the mice were first intracerebrally treated with rAAV-N796 and were then intracerebrally challenged with a lethal dose (10 LD 50 ) of CVS-11 48 hr later. Compared with the rAAV-Neg-treated mice, all of the rAAV-N796-treated mice showed fewer clinical signs of disease and lower morbidity. Moreover, the mouse survival rates in the rAAV-N796-treated groups showed higher survival rates than the rAAV-Neg-treated mice. At 21 days post-challenge, the mouse survival rate in the rAAV-N796-treated groups was 50 ± 5.3%, and all the mice in the rAAV-Neg-treated groups died at 18 days post-challenge.