The Possibility of Nucleic Acids to Act as Anti-Viral Therapeutic Agents—A Review

For just about 30 years, researchers have considered the likelihood to utilize nucleic acids as antiviral therapeutics. In principle, small single-stranded nucleotide sequence (oligonucleotide) could hybridize to a particular gene or messenger RNA and diminish transcription or translation, respectively, in this manner decreasing the amount of protein that is synthesized. Until now, an incredible number of antisense oligonucleotides, double-stranded oligonucleotides, aptamers, ribozymes, deoxyribozymes, interfering RNAs, chimeric RNA-DNA molecules, antibody genes has been created artificially and applied effectively for comprehension and manipulating biological processes and in clinical preliminaries to treat a variety of diseases. Their versatility and potency make them similarly fit candidates for fighting viral infections. However, troubles with their efficiency, off-target effects, toxicity, delivery, and stability halted the development of nucleic acid-based therapeutics that can be utilized in the clinic. The potential for nucleic acid therapeutic agents is significant and is quite recently beginning to be realized. In this review, we have summarized some of the recent advancements made in the area of nucleic acid based therapeutics and focused on the methods of their delivery and associated challenges.