Reshi Mohammad Latif, Wu Jen-Leih, Wang Hao-Ven, Hong Jiann-Ruey
Laboratory of Molecular Virology and Biotechnology, Institute of Biotechnology, National Cheng Kung University, No 1, University Road, Tainan City 701, Taiwan, ROC; Department of Life Sciences, College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, National Cheng Kung University, No. 1, University Road, Tainan City 701, Taiwan, ROC.
Laboratory of Marine Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei 115, Taiwan, ROC.
Fish Shellfish Immunol. 2014 Sep;40(1):14-23. doi: 10.1016/j.fsi.2014.06.008. Epub 2014 Jun 17.
Aquaculture is one of the most important economic activities in Asia and is presently the fastest growing sector of food production in the world. Explosive increases in global fish farming have been accompanied by an increase in viral diseases. Viral infections are responsible for huge economic losses in fish farming, and control of these viral diseases in aquaculture remains a serious challenge. Recent advances in biotechnology have had a significant impact on disease reduction in aquaculture. RNAi is one of the most important technological breakthroughs in modern biology, allowing us to directly observe the effects of the loss of specific genes in living systems. RNA interference technology has emerged as a powerful tool for manipulating gene expression in the laboratory. This technology represents a new therapeutic approach for treating aquatic diseases, including viral infections. RNAi technology is based on a naturally occurring post-transcriptional gene silencing process mediated by the formation of dsRNA. RNAi has been proven widely effective for gene knockdown in mammalian cultured cells, but its utility in fish remains unexplored. This review aims to highlight the RNAi technology that has made significant contributions toward the improvement of aquatic animal health and will also summarize the current status and future strategies concerning the therapeutic applications of RNAi to combat viral disease in aquacultured organisms.
水产养殖是亚洲最重要的经济活动之一，目前是世界上食品生产中增长最快的部门。全球鱼类养殖的迅猛增长伴随着病毒性疾病的增加。病毒感染给鱼类养殖造成了巨大的经济损失，而控制水产养殖中的这些病毒性疾病仍然是一项严峻的挑战。生物技术的最新进展对水产养殖中疾病的减少产生了重大影响。RNA干扰是现代生物学中最重要的技术突破之一，使我们能够直接观察特定基因缺失在生物系统中的影响。RNA干扰技术已成为实验室中操纵基因表达的有力工具。这项技术代表了一种治疗水生疾病（包括病毒感染）的新方法。RNA干扰技术基于由双链RNA形成介导的自然发生的转录后基因沉默过程。RNA干扰已被广泛证明在哺乳动物培养细胞中对基因敲除有效，但其在鱼类中的应用仍未得到探索。本综述旨在强调对改善水生动物健康做出重大贡献的RNA干扰技术，并总结RNA干扰在防治水产养殖生物病毒性疾病治疗应用方面的现状和未来策略。
