title: Making RISC.
abstract: It is well established that 20- to 30-nt small RNAs, including small interfering RNAs, microRNAs and Piwi-interacting RNAs, play crucial roles in regulating gene expression and control a surprisingly diverse array of biological processes. These small RNAs cannot work alone: they must form effector ribonucleoprotein complexes - RNA-induced silencing complexes (RISCs) - to exert their function. Thus, RISC assembly is a key process in small RNA-mediated silencing. Recent biochemical analyses of RISC assembly, together with new structural studies of Argonaute, the core protein component of RISC, suggest a revised view of how mature RISC, which contains single-stranded guide RNA, is built from small RNAs that are born double-stranded.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawamata
authors.forename: Yukihide
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tomari
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D034743:RNA-Induced Silencing Complex / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D034743:RNA-Induced Silencing Complex