Applications of RNA interference in cancer therapeutics as a powerful tool for suppressing gene expression.
Cancer poses a tremendous therapeutic challenge worldwide, highlighting the critical need for developing novel therapeutics. A promising cancer treatment modality is gene therapy, which is a form of molecular medicine designed to introduce into target cells genetic material with therapeutic intent. The history of RNA interference (RNAi) has only a dozen years, however, further studies have revealed that it is a potent method of gene silencing that has developed rapidly over the past few years as a result of its extensive importance in the study of genetics, molecular biology and physiology. RNAi is a natural process by which small interfering RNA (siRNA) duplex directs sequence specific post-transcriptional silencing of homologous genes by binding to its complementary mRNA and triggering its elimination. RNAi has been extensively used as a novel and effective gene silencing tool for the fundamental research of cancer therapeutics, and has displayed great potential in clinical treatment.
He
Song
S
Molecular Medicine & Tumor Research Center, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China. jarm190@163.com
Zhang
Dechun
D
Cheng
Fang
F
Gong
Fanghong
F
Guo
Yanan
Y
D015870:Gene Expression; D020868:Gene Silencing; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000235:genetics; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000628:therapy*; D034622:RNA Interference; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000235:genetics
D035683:MicroRNAs; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering