Knockdown of TNFR1 by the sense strand of an ICAM-1 siRNA: dissection of an off-target effect

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) initiates local inflammation by triggering endothelial cells (EC) to express adhesion molecules for leukocytes such as intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1 or CD54). A prior study identified siRNA molecules that reduce ICAM-1 expression in cultured human umbilical vein EC (HUVEC). One of these, ISIS 121736, unexpectedly inhibits TNF-mediated up-regulation of additional molecules on EC, including E-selectin (CD62E), VCAM-1 (CD106) and HLA-A,B,C. 736 siRNA transfection was not toxic for EC nor was there any evidence of an interferon response. 736 Transfection of EC blocked multiple early TNF-related signaling events, including activation of NF-kappaB. IL-1 activation of these same pathways was not inhibited. A unifying explanation is that 736 siRNA specifically reduced expression of mRNA encoding tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNFR1) as well as TNFR1 surface expression. A sequence with high identity to the 736 antisense strand (17 of 19 bases) is present within the 3'UTR of human TNFR1 mRNA. An EGFP construct incorporating the 3'UTR of TNFR1 was silenced by 736 siRNA and this effect was lost by mutagenesis of this complementary sequence. Chemical modification and mismatches within the sense strand of 736 also inhibited silencing activity. In summary, an siRNA molecule selected to target ICAM-1 through its antisense strand exhibited broad anti-TNF activities. We show that this off-target effect is mediated by siRNA knockdown of TNFR1 via its sense strand. This may be the first example in which the off-target effect of an siRNA is actually responsible for the anticipated effect by acting to reduce expression of a protein (TNFR1) that normally regulates expression of the intended target (ICAM-1).