Dudley Nathaniel R, Goldstein Bob
Biology Department, University of North Carolina, 616 Fordham Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3280, USA.
Curr Opin Mol Ther. 2003 Apr;5(2):113-7.
Although the discovery that double-stranded RNA is able to silence gene expression was only made five years ago, methods for experimentally silencing genes have already been extended into a broad diversity of organisms, including human cells. RNA interference has also been discovered to function in physiological gene silencing. RNA interference works by causing degradation of targeted mRNAs in the cytoplasm. However, recent results suggest that RNA interference may also silence gene activity in the nucleus by remodeling chromatin and repressing the transcription of targeted genes.
尽管双链RNA能够使基因表达沉默这一发现仅仅是在五年前才得以实现，但是通过实验使基因沉默的方法已经扩展到了包括人类细胞在内的各种各样的生物体中。人们还发现RNA干扰在生理性基因沉默中发挥作用。RNA干扰通过导致细胞质中靶向mRNA的降解来发挥作用。然而，最近的研究结果表明，RNA干扰也可能通过重塑染色质和抑制靶向基因的转录来使细胞核中的基因活性沉默。
