Ribozyme mediated cleavage of acute phase serum amyloid A (A-SAA) mRNA in vitro.

The 1000-fold induction of acute phase serum amyloid A (A-SAA) in the liver during inflammation indicates that this protein plays an important, though ill-defined, role in host defence. Paradoxically, prolonged overproduction of A-SAA is a causative factor in secondary amyloidosis and possibly other diseases such as atherosclerosis; the ability to down-regulate A-SAA synthesis is therefore of considerable clinical importance. We have successfully generated anti-SAA hammerhead ribozymes and we report that they are capable of cleaving A-SAA mRNA in vitro.