Aptamers targeting rabies virus-infected cells inhibit street rabies virus in vivo

Rabies is a viral infection of the CNS that is almost always fatal once symptoms occur. No effective treatment of the disease is available and novel antiviral strategies are urgently required. Street rabies viruses are field isolates known to be highly neurotropic. Aptamers are single-stranded oligonucleotides that bind their targets with high affinity and specificity and thus have potential for use in diagnostic and therapeutic applications. In this study, we demonstrate that the aptamers FO24 and FO21, which target RABV-infected cells, can significantly protect mice from a lethal dose of the street rabies virus FJ strain in vivo. Groups receiving preexposure prophylaxis had higher survival rates than the groups receiving postexposure prophylaxis. When mice were inoculated with aptamers (4 nmol) for 24 h by intracranial or intramuscular injection prior to intramuscular inoculation with the FJ strain, approximately 60% of the mice survived. These results indicate that the FO21 and FO24 aptamers may be used to develop preventative antiviral therapy against rabies disease.