title: Drosophila U6 promoter-driven short hairpin RNAs effectively induce RNA interference in Schneider 2 cells.
abstract: The effect of RNA interference (RNAi) is generally more potent in Drosophila Schneider 2 (S2) cells than in mammalian cells. In mammalian cells, PolIII promoter-based DNA vectors can be used to express small interfering RNA (siRNA) or short hairpin RNA (shRNA); however, this has not been demonstrated in cultured Drosophila cells. Here we show that shRNAs transcribed from the Drosophila U6 promoter can efficiently trigger gene silencing in S2 cells. By targeting firefly luciferase mRNA, we assessed the efficacy of the shRNAs and examined the structural requirements for highly effective shRNAs. The silencing effect was dependent on the length of the stem region and the sequence of the loop region. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the expression of the endogenous cyclin E protein can be repressed by the U6 promoter-driven shRNAs. Drosophila U6 promoter-based shRNA expression systems may permit stable gene silencing in S2 cells.
authors.affiliation: RIKEN Genomic Sciences Center, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Motoaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wakiyama
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Shigeyuki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D017931:DNA Primers; D004330:Drosophila / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D034622:RNA Interference; D012342:RNA, Small Nuclear / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D012342:RNA, Small Nuclear; C405486:U6 small nuclear RNA; D012313:RNA