Inhibition of Bovine herpesvirus multiplication in MDBK cells by small interfering RNAs.

Small interfering RNA (siRNA) mediated gene silencing is a promising approach in antiviral therapy. To investigate the antiviral effects of siRNAs on Bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) multiplication, we designed and in vitro synthesized two siRNAs (siRNA-1 and siRNA-2) targeting the UL25 gene that is essential for BHV-1 multiplication. siRNA-1 and siRNA-2 inhibited the BoHV-1 multiplication in MDBK cells to a different extent, namely by 11% and 40%, respectively, as demonstrated by virus titers (TCID(50)/ml) determined in cell culture. This indicates that, in general, siRNAs can inhibit BHV-1 multiplication in vitro and could be used also against a BHV-1 infection in vivo following optimization of their application.