Off-target effects associated with long dsRNAs in Drosophila RNAi screens.
Evidence of off-target effects (OTEs) associated with small interfering (si)RNAs (19-29bp) in mammalian cells has existed for several years. Two recent articles demonstrate that short sequences within long double-stranded (ds)RNAs frequently cause undesirable OTEs in cultured Drosophila cells. These results reveal the potential for high false-positive rates in RNA interference (RNAi) screens using long dsRNAs and highlight the need for screening with multiple, non-overlapping long dsRNAs or siRNAs. Discovering multiple potent siRNAs with minimal off-target profiles for each target transcript will be invaluable for genome-based studies of gene function and for personalized RNAi therapeutics.
Moffat
Jason
J
Whitehead Institute, 9 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
Reiling
Jan H
JH
Sabatini
David M
DM
D000818:Animals; D004330:Drosophila / Q000235:genetics*; D015723:Gene Library; D017344:Genes, Insect / Q000235:genetics; D034622:RNA Interference; D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded / Q000235:genetics*
D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded