Molecular basis for improved gene silencing by Dicer substrate interfering RNA compared with other siRNA variants.

ABSTRACT: The canonical exogenous trigger of RNA interference (RNAi) in mammals is small interfering RNA (siRNA). One promising application of RNAi is siRNA-based therapeutics, and therefore the optimization of siRNA efficacy is an important consideration. To reduce unfavorable properties of canonical 21mer siRNAs, structural and chemical variations to canonical siRNA have been reported. Several of these siRNA variants demonstrate increased potency in downstream readout-based assays, but the molecular mechanism underlying the increased potency is not clear. Here, we tested the performance of canonical siRNAs and several sequence-matched variants in parallel in gene silencing, RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) assembly, stability and Argonaute (Ago) loading assays. The commonly used 19mer with two

SUBMITTER: Snead NM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3695504 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature