SID Proteins Enable Gene Silencing by Systemic RNAi

Summary RNAi is an ancient gene regulatory mechanism that has been recently and nearly universally adapted to laboratory use to inhibit or knockdown expression of targeted genes. Gene targeting is usually accomplished by transfection of dsRNA or constructs that express RNA hairpin structures into cells. In plants and nematodes it has been demonstrated that the silencing information can spread from cell to cell, systemically silencing the targeted gene throughout the organism. Molecular genetic analysis in the nematode C. elegans has led to the identification of proteins necessary for systemic RNAi. Expression of these proteins in vertebrate and invertebrate cell lines enables uptake of dsRNA from the media to initiate robust gene-specific silencing.

Applications Due to its tremendous power in ascribing functionality to genes, RNAi has been exploited extensively in experimental cellular and animal models to selectively inactivate particular genes. However, high-throughput application of RNAi is hindered by the necessity to transfect hundreds of RNAs or constructs. The identification of proteins capable of transporting RNA molecules from the media into cells enables high-throughput RNAi screening, among other potential applications. The human homologues of the SID proteins may also prove to be important drug targets.

Available reagents: vectors for expression of C. elegans SID-1 (wild-type and mutant control) in invertebrate and vertebrate cell lines; cDNA for cloning into expression system of choice. For Further Information Please Contact the Director of Business Development Laura Brass Email: [email protected] Telephone: (617) 495-3067

Inventor(s): Hunter, Craig

Type of Offer: Licensing



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