Ma Yan, Chan Chu-Yan, He Ming-Liang
Stanley Ho Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases, and Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong, China.
World J Gastroenterol. 2007 Oct 21;13(39):5169-79. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i39.5169.
RNA interference (RNAi) is an evolutionally conserved gene silencing mechanism present in a variety of eukaryotic species. RNAi uses short double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) to trigger degradation or translation repression of homologous RNA targets in a sequence-specific manner. This system can be induced effectively in vitro and in vivo by direct application of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), or by expression of short hairpin RNA (shRNA) with non-viral and viral vectors. To date, RNAi has been extensively used as a novel and effective tool for functional genomic studies, and has displayed great potential in treating human diseases, including human genetic and acquired disorders such as cancer and viral infections. In the present review, we focus on the recent development in the use of RNAi in the prevention and treatment of viral infections. The mechanisms, strategies, hurdles and prospects of employing RNAi in the pharmaceutical industry are also discussed.
RNA干扰（RNAi）是一种存在于多种真核生物物种中的进化保守基因沉默机制。RNAi利用短双链RNA（dsRNA）以序列特异性方式触发同源RNA靶标的降解或翻译抑制。通过直接应用小干扰RNA（siRNA），或通过使用非病毒和病毒载体表达短发夹RNA（shRNA），该系统可在体外和体内有效诱导。迄今为止，RNAi已被广泛用作功能基因组学研究的一种新颖且有效的工具，并在治疗人类疾病方面显示出巨大潜力，包括癌症和病毒感染等人类遗传性和后天性疾病。在本综述中，我们重点关注RNAi在预防和治疗病毒感染方面的最新进展。还讨论了在制药行业中应用RNAi的机制、策略、障碍和前景。
