What is RNA Interference?
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RNA interference is a natural genetic mechanism present in most plants and animals. Its function is to protect the cellular machinery from invasion and exploitation by viruses and other foreign genetic material. RNA interference can silence specific genes, making it a valuable research tool in biotechnology research and even next-generation medical therapies. For instance, if we could use RNA interference to silence the genes responsible for a slow metabolism, we could allow people to lose weight without forcing them to go on a diet or fighting against their natural dietary tendencies. Recall that viruses reproduce by inserting their genetic material into the genome of a host, reprogramming it to pump out copies of the virus. After a few hundred viruses are produced by the genetic machinery of the cell, it bursts, releasing more virions which go on to infect other cells. The main point of RNA interference is to suppress certain sections of the genome so that viruses cannot exploit it t
RNA interference (RNAi) is a natural process that cells use to turn down, or silence, the activity of specific genes. Discovered in 1998, RNAi has taken the biomedical community by storm. Researchers quickly capitalized on the discovery and developed RNAi into a powerful research tool that is now used in thousands of labs worldwide.
RNA interference is a process of gene silencing that plays an important role in development and maintenance of the genome. The RNAi pathway is complex. It is initiated by the enyzme dicer which cleaves double stranded RNA (dsRNA) into 20-25 bp fragments. An RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) is then formed by base pairing between complementary mRNA and 1 of the 2 strands of each new fragment. This formation of the RISC complex is followed by degradation of the complementary mRNA by the endonuclease argonaute. Argonaute is the catalytic component of the complex. The short 20-25 bp fragments are known as small interfering RNA (siRNA) when they are artificially introduced and microRNA (miRNA) when they are produced endogenously. RNA interference has become a valuable research tool since it allows the prevention of translation of specific genes by introducing siRNA complementary to the mRNA one wishes to suppress.
This is first in series of mini-commentaries that I hope will provide background and context to the importance some of the major discoveries that I have posted. This week’s feature is RNA interference (RNAi). There is a great mini-tutorial about RNAi at PBS Nova site. The the wiki on RNAi is also useful for providing simple background. RNAi is arguably the most important molecular biology discovery of the last decade and was declared breakthrough of the year by Science magazine in 2002. This technology has the potential to transform medicine but providing us the tool to regulate expression of genes. RNAi mediated treatments may also become the next big thing in biotech. I recently reported about the structure of the key RNAi component, Dicer protein. This story revealed new insight into the intricate mechanism of RNAi. Several other discoveries posted here also involved RNAi.
