Dr. Tao, Mi-Hua 陶秘華 博士
Selection of escape mutants with mutations within the target sequence could abolish the antiviral RNA interference activity. Here, we investigated the impact of a pre-existing shRNA-resistant HBV variant on the efficacy of shRNA therapy. Human liver chimeric mice were infected with a mixture of wild-type and T472C HBV, a shRNA S1-resistant HBV variant, and then treated with a single or combined shRNAs. The presence of T472C mutant compromised the therapeutic efficacy of S1 and resulted in replacement of serum wild-type HBV by T472C HBV. In contrast, combinatorial therapy markedly reduced titers for both wild-type and T472C HBV. Our results demonstrate that combinatorial RNAi therapy can minimize the escape of resistant viral mutants in chronic HBV patients.