title: Using siRNA to study microtubule-related proteins in cultured neurons.
abstract: Testing functional hypotheses on the roles played by individual microtubule-related proteins in developing neurons benefits from having an effective means for depleting an individual protein from a population of cultured vertebrate neurons over an appropriate window. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) has the advantage of high transfection efficiency, but has certain limitations that require strategic experimental design. Here we describe the insights that we have gained over the years from using this approach.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Lanfranco
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Leo
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Wenqian
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Peter W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Baas
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000378:metabolism*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology*; D003712:Dendrites / Q000378:metabolism*; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology*; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D034622:RNA Interference; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000235:genetics*; D051381:Rats; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins
keywords: Axon; Dendrite; Microtubule; Neuron; Primary neuronal culture; RNAi; mRNA; shRNA; siRNA