Ortiz-Quintero Blanca
Investigador en Ciencias Médicas, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias.
Rev Invest Clin. 2009 Sep-Oct;61(5):412-27.
RNA interference (RNAi) is a conserved biological mechanism triggered by double-stranded RNA from exogenous (small interfering RNA, siRNA) or endogenous origin (microRNAs, miRNA) that inhibits gene expression at transcriptional level. First discovered as an ancient anti-viral response, RNAi is now recognized as a natural regulatory mechanism for silencing gene expression in eukaryotes and as a powerful tool for investigating gene function. Over the last seven years, RNAi has become a valuable and standardized tool to silence gene expression in almost every scientific research field. This review describes the RNAi as a biological response and as a research tool for silencing gene expression, focusing on primary information required when the RNAi is applying for first time at a laboratory. It provides a basic guide to promote RNAi advantages and a list of available web tools for RNAi application in research field at a laboratory. Information about RNAi-based therapeutics development is included.
RNA干扰（RNAi）是一种保守的生物学机制，由外源性（小干扰RNA，siRNA）或内源性（微小RNA，miRNA）的双链RNA触发，可在转录水平抑制基因表达。RNAi最初被发现是一种古老的抗病毒反应，现在被认为是真核生物中沉默基因表达的天然调节机制，也是研究基因功能的强大工具。在过去七年中，RNAi已成为几乎每个科研领域中沉默基因表达的有价值且标准化的工具。本综述将RNAi描述为一种生物学反应以及沉默基因表达的研究工具，重点关注RNAi首次应用于实验室时所需的基本信息。它提供了促进RNAi优势的基本指南以及实验室研究领域中RNAi应用的可用网络工具列表。还包括基于RNAi的治疗药物开发的信息。
