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  • Review Article
  • Published:

Post-transcriptional gene silencing by double-stranded RNA

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 2, pages 110–119 (2001)Cite this article

Key Points

  • RNA interference (RNAi) is the process by which double-stranded RNA specifically silences the expression of homologous genes through degradation of their cognate mRNA. Silencing is therefore a post-transcriptional phenomenon.

  • The genetic silencing that occurs by RNAi is highly specific and is based on the sequence of the double-stranded RNA.

  • Post-transcriptional gene silencing in plants and fungi is mechanistically related to RNAi in animals.

  • The destruction of mRNA is accomplished by a multi-component nuclease, called the RNA-induced silencing complex, or RISC.

  • The input double-stranded RNA is processed into short (∼22-nucleotide) RNAs, which are incorporated into the RISC. Here they act as 'guide RNAs' to confer target specificity to the nuclease.

  • A number of likely molecules that participate in RNAi have been identified in many model systems by genetic analysis.

  • The proposed biological roles of RNAi include resistance to viruses, transposon silencing and regulation of endogenous gene expression, particularly during development.

  • RNAi has become a valuable experimental tool for investigating gene function in Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster and plants.

  • Once the mechanism of RNAi is better understood, it may become a powerful technology to study a broader range of systems, including mammalian organisms and cultured cells.

Abstract

Imagine being able to knock out your favourite gene with only a day's work. Not just in one model system, but in virtually any organism: plants, flies, mice or cultured cells. This sort of experimental dream might one day become reality as we learn to harness the power of RNA interference, the process by which double-stranded RNA induces the silencing of homologous endogenous genes. How this phenomenon works is slowly becoming clear, and might help us to develop an effortless tool to probe gene function in cells and animals.

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Figure 1: How does RNAi work?

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank R. Ketting (Hubrecht Laboratory, Utrecht) and A. Denli (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories) for critical reading of the manuscript. A.A.C. is a George A. and Margorie H. Anderson Fellow of the Watson School of Biological Sciences and a Pre-doctoral Fellow of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. SMH is a Visiting Scientist from Genetica, Inc. (Cambridge, Massachusetts). G.J.H. is a Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences. This work was supported in part by grants from the NIH (G.J.H.).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1 Bungtown Road, Cold Spring Harbor, 11724, New York, USA

    Scott M. Hammond, Amy A. Caudy & Gregory J. Hannon

  2. Genetica Inc., 1 Kendall Square, Building 600, Cambridge, 01239, Massachusetts, USA

    Scott M. Hammond

  3. Watson School of Biological Sciences, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1 Bungtown Road, Cold Spring Harbor, 11724, New York, USA

    Amy A. Caudy

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Supplementary information

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DATABASE LINKS

par-1

DDM1

rde-4

rde-1

qde-2

AGO-1

rde-2

mut-7

Werner syndrome

mut-2

smg-2

smg-5

smg-6

qde-3

Bloom syndrome

ego-1

SGS-2

SDE-1

Glossary

RNASE L

A ubiquitous vertebrate RNase that is activated indirectly by double-stranded RNA. This enzyme lacks the sequence specificity of RNA interference.

NON-CELL-AUTONOMOUS

A mutation that behaves non-cell-autonomously is one that affects cells other than those that possess the mutation.

PENETRANCE

The proportion of genotypically mutant organisms that show the mutant phenotype. If all genotypically mutant individuals show the mutant phenotype, then the genotype is said to be completely penetrant.

EPIGENETIC

Transmission of phenotypes by mechanisms other than changes in DNA sequence.

NUCLEAR RUN-ON ASSAY

Direct measurement of transcriptional activity of a gene by incorporation of labelled UTP into its mRNA.

5-AZA DEOXYCYTIDINE

A potent and specific inhibitor of DNA methylation.

HETEROKARYON

A cell that contains two nuclei in a common cytoplasm.

STEM-LOOP STRUCTURE

A lollipop-shaped structure that is formed when a single-stranded nucleic acid molecule loops back on itself to form a complementary double helix (stem) topped by a loop.

NONSENSE-MEDIATED DECAY

The process by which the cell destroys mRNAs that are untranslatable owing to the presence of a nonsense codon within the coding region.

RECA (recA)

A multifunctional protein in E. coli that is involved in DNA recombination and postreplicative DNA repair. This protein also has an energy-dependent homology-searching activity.

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Hammond, S., Caudy, A. & Hannon, G. Post-transcriptional gene silencing by double-stranded RNA. Nat Rev Genet 2, 110–119 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35052556

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