Article

RNA interference and its therapeutic potential

Central European Journal of Medicine (impact factor: 0.31). 04/2012; 6(2):137-147. DOI:10.2478/s11536-011-0005-5 pp.137-147

ABSTRACT RNA interference is a technique that has become popular in the past few years. This is a biological method to detect the activity
of a specific gene within a cell. RNAi is the introduction of homologous double stranded RNA to specifically target a gene’s
product resulting in null or hypomorphic phenotypes. This technique involves the degradation of specific mRNA by using small
interfering RNA. Both microRNA (miRNA) and small interfering RNA (siRNA) are directly related to RNA interference. RNAi mechanism
is being explored as a new technique for suppressing gene expression. It is an important issue in the treatment of various
diseases. This review considers different aspects of RNAi technique including its history of discovery, molecular mechanism,
gene expression study, advantages of this technique against previously used techniques, barrier associated with this technique,
and its therapeutic application.

KeywordsCancer–MicroRNA–Interfering RNA–Disease

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Keywords

biological method
 
degradation
 
different aspects
 
gene expression study
 
homologous double
 
hypomorphic phenotypes
 
KeywordsCancer–MicroRNA–Interfering RNA–Disease
 
microRNA
 
miRNA
 
molecular mechanism
 
RNA interference
 
RNAi
 
RNAi mechanism
 
RNAi technique
 
siRNA
 
specific gene
 
specific mRNA
 
suppressing gene expression
 
techniques
 
therapeutic application