Uncovering novel gene function in Toll-like receptor signalling using siRNA.
In the last number of years siRNA has emerged as a key technique in understanding gene function. While siRNA has been used in lower organisms such as Caenorhabditis elegans, its use in mammalian cells, where gene manipulation is difficult, is where its greatest benefit has been realised. The advancements made in siRNA technology now provide us with an alternative approach to relying on "knockout mice" in uncovering mammalian gene function. In addition, siRNA provides us with a complementary approach to overexpression systems in cultured mammalian cells. siRNA is a superior method of post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) compared to ribozyme and anti-sense technologies both in terms of potency and specificity.
Department of Biochemistry and Immunology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Michael
M
Carty
Sinéad
S
Keating
Andrew
A
Bowie
D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D017930:Genes, Reporter / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D034622:RNA Interference; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000235:genetics*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015398:Signal Transduction; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D014162:Transfection
D018076:DNA, Complementary; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors