Review

RNAi: An emerging field of molecular research

Mohammad Humayun Kabir¹, Syed Abdul Qadir¹, Sedky Hassan Aly Hassan², Juhee Ahn¹ and Myeong-Hyeon Wang¹*

¹College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, South Korea.

²Dept of Biological Environment, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, South Korea.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: mhwang@kangwon.ac.kr. Tel: 82-33-250-6486. Fax: 82-33-241-6480.

Accepted 11 December, 2008

RNA silencing, named as co-suppression or post transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) was found in transgenic plants which was the result of cellular mRNA degradation and silencing of gene expression. RNA interference (RNAi) is a specific technique using only a few double stranded RNA (dsRNA) molecules to stop the expression which has made it one of the important areas in molecular biology.  By introducing a gene into the host genome which is highly homologous to an endogenous gene, the RNA silencing is initiated. Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) is cut by the enzyme “Dicer” producing small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) which combine with RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC). RISC, a protein complex, binds one strand of siRNA with mRNA of native target gene for destruction, resulting in gene silencing. The mechanism of RNAi offers a quick and easy way to determine the function of a gene. In this review, we discuss the history, components, mechanism and the application of RNA interference.

Key words: Dicer, dsRNA, gene silencing, RISC, RNAi.