RNA interference

RNA interference (RNAi) is a genetic regulatory system that functions to silence the activity of specific genes. RNAi occurs naturally, through the production of nuclear-encoded pre-microRNA (pre-miRNA), and can be induced experimentally, using short segments of synthetic double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). The synthetic dsRNA employed is typically either a small hairpin RNA (shRNA) or a short interfering RNA (siRNA). In both the natural and the experimental pathways, an enzyme known as DICER is necessary for the formation of miRNA from pre-miRNA or of siRNA from shRNA. The miRNA or siRNA then binds to an enzyme-containing molecule known as RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC). The miRNA-RISC or siRNA-RISC complex binds to target, or complementary, messenger RNA (mRNA) sequences, resulting in the enzymatic cleavage of the target mRNA. The cleaved mRNA is rendered nonfunctional and hence is “silenced.”