Double-Stranded RNA Binding Proteins in Serum Contribute to Systemic RNAi Across Phyla-Towards Finding the Missing Link in Achelata.

ABSTRACT: RNA interference (RNAi) has become a widely utilized method for studying gene function, yet despite this many of the mechanisms surrounding RNAi remain elusive. The core RNAi machinery is relatively well understood, however many of the systemic mechanisms, particularly double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) transport, are not. Here, we demonstrate that dsRNA binding proteins in the serum contribute to systemic RNAi and may be the limiting factor in RNAi capacity for species such as spiny lobsters, where gene silencing is not functional. Incubating sera from a variety of species across phyla with dsRNA led to a gel mobility shift in species in which systemic RNAi has been observed, with this response being absent in species in which systemic RNAi has never been observed. Proteomic analysis suggested l

SUBMITTER: Banks TM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7554946 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature