Prediction of putative potential siRNAs for inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 strains, including variants of concern and interest

Aim: To predict siRNAs as a therapeutic intervention for highly infectious new variants of SARS-CoV-2. Methods: Conserved coding sequence regions of 11 SARS-CoV-2 proteins were used to construct siRNAs through sampling of metadata comprising 214,256 sequences. Results: Predicted siRNAs S1: 5′-UCAUUGAGAAAUGUUUACGCA-3′ and S2: 5′-AAAGACAUCAGCAUACUCCUG-3′ against RdRp of SARS-CoV-2 satisfied all the stringent filtering processes and showed good binding characteristics. The designed siRNAs are expected to inhibit viral replication and transcription of various coronavirus strains encompassing variants of concern and interest. Conclusion: The predicted siRNAs are expected to be potent against SARS-CoV-2, and following in vitro and in vivo validations may be considered as potential therapeutic measures.