RNAi technology and its use in studying the function of nuclear receptors and coregulators.
Until just a few years ago, RNA interference (RNAi) technology was restricted to the research fields of plants, C. elegans or Drosophila. The discovery of gene silencing by in vitro synthesized double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) in mammalian cells has made the use of RNAi possible in nearly the entire life science kingdom. DNA vectors delivering small interfering RNA (siRNA) directed by polymerase III or polymerase II promoters to persistently inhibit target genes expression have extended this technology to study in vivo function of these genes. Recently, RNAi has been used as a powerful tool in the functional analysis of nuclear receptors and their coregulators. This short review will cover studies in this area.
Zhou
Hai-Jun
HJ
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
Tsai
Sophia Y
SY
Tsai
Ming-Jer
MJ