Alnumeir Sammer, Werner Andreas
RNA Biology Group, Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, UK.
Methods Mol Biol. 2014;1173:27-32. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-0931-5_3.
Endogenous siRNAs (endo-siRNAs) are well documented and characterized in C. elegans and Drosophila. Endo-siRNAs can also be found in vertebrates; however, their biology is much less clear. They are thought to be produced by Dicer and to contribute to transposon silencing. Because of their generally low abundance and their similarity with miRNAs and products of physiological RNA turn-over, endo-siRNAs are difficult to investigate. Here, we report a system, oocytes from Xenopus laevis, that allows for the generation and analysis of endo-siRNAs from double-stranded RNA precursors.
