RNA Therapeutics Department, Merck and Co., Inc., Boulder, CO 80301, USA.
Mass Spectrom Rev. 2011 Nov-Dec;30(6):979-98. doi: 10.1002/mas.20260. Epub 2010 Mar 3.
RNA interference (RNAi) has quickly become a well-established laboratory tool for regulating gene expression and is currently being explored for its therapeutic potential. The design and use of double-stranded RNA oligonucleotides as therapeutics to trigger the RNAi mechanism and a greater effort to understand the RNAi pathway itself is driving the development of analytical techniques that can characterize these oligonucleotides. Electrospray (ESI) and MALDI have been used routinely to analyze oligonucleotides and their ability to provide mass and sequence information has made them ideal for this application. Reviewed here is the work done to date on the use of ESI and MALDI for the study of RNAi oligonucleotides as well as the strategies and issues associated with siRNA analysis by mass spectrometry. While there is not a large body of literature on the specific application of mass spectrometry to RNAi, the work done in this area is a good demonstration of the range of experiments that can be conducted and the value that ESI and MALDI can provide to the RNAi field.
RNA 干扰 (RNAi) 已迅速成为调控基因表达的一种成熟的实验室工具，目前正在探索其治疗潜力。双链 RNA 寡核苷酸作为治疗药物来触发 RNAi 机制的设计和使用，以及对 RNAi 途径本身的更深入理解，正在推动可用于表征这些寡核苷酸的分析技术的发展。电喷雾 (ESI) 和基质辅助激光解吸电离 (MALDI) 已常规用于分析寡核苷酸，其提供质量和序列信息的能力使其成为这种应用的理想选择。本文综述了目前关于 ESI 和 MALDI 在 RNAi 寡核苷酸研究中的应用的工作，以及与通过质谱法分析 siRNA 相关的策略和问题。尽管关于质谱法在 RNAi 中的具体应用的文献并不多，但该领域所做的工作很好地展示了可以进行的一系列实验，以及 ESI 和 MALDI 可为 RNAi 领域提供的价值。
