Vivo-morpholino oligomers strongly inhibit dengue virus replication and production

Dengue virus (DENV) infection is a worldwide public health problem, which can cause severe dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and life-threatening dengue shock syndrome (DSS). There are currently no anti-DENV drugs available, and there has been an intensive search for effective anti-DENV agents that can inhibit all four DENV serotypes. In this study, we tested whether vivo-morpholino oligomers (vivo-MOs), whose effect on DENV infection has not previously been studied, can inhibit DENV infection. Vivo-MOs were designed to target the top of 3’ stem-loop (3’ SL) in the 3’ UTR of the DENV genome and tested for inhibition of DENV infection in monkey kidney epithelial (Vero) cells and human lung epithelial carcinoma (A549) cells. The results showed that vivo-MOs could bind to a DENV RNA sequence and markedly reduce DENV-RNA, protein, and virus production in infected Vero and A549 cells. Vivo-MOs at a concentration of 4 µM could inhibit DENV production by more than 104-fold when compared to that of an untreated control. In addition, vivo-MOs also inhibited DENV production in U937 cells and primary human monocytes. Therefore, vivo-MOs targeting to the 3’ SL in the 3’ UTR of DENV genomes are effective and have the potential to be developed as anti-DENV agents.