MicroRNA-based strategy to mitigate the risk of gain-of-function influenza studies.

Langlois, R. A., Albrecht, R. A., Kimble, B., Sutton, T., Shapiro, J. S., Finch, C., Angel, M., Chua, M. A., Gonzalez-Reiche, A. S., Xu, K., Perez, D., Garcia-Sastre, A. and tenOever, B. R.

Nat Biotechnol 13/08/2013

PMID: 23934176

Abstract

Recent gain-of-function studies in influenza A virus H5N1 strains revealed that as few as three-amino-acid changes in the hemagglutinin protein confer the capacity for viral transmission between ferrets. As transmission between ferrets is considered a surrogate indicator of transmissibility between humans, these studies raised concerns about the risks of gain-of-function influenza A virus research. Here we present an approach to strengthen the biosafety of gain-of-function influenza experiments. We exploit species-specific endogenous small RNAs to restrict influenza A virus tropism. In particular, we found that the microRNA miR-192 was expressed in primary human respiratory tract epithelial cells as well as in mouse lungs but absent from the ferret respiratory tract. Incorporation of miR-192 target sites into influenza A virus did not prevent influenza replication and transmissibility in ferrets, but did attenuate influenza pathogenicity in mice. This molecular biocontainment approach should be applicable beyond influenza A virus to minimize the risk of experiments involving other pathogenic viruses.