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Genome‐wide application of RNAi to the discovery of potential drug targets
Author(s) -
Ito Masanori,
Kawano Kenji,
Miyagishi Makoto,
Taira Kazunari
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/j.febslet.2005.08.015
Subject(s) - rna interference , computational biology , biology , small interfering rna , gene , small hairpin rna , genome , gene silencing , drug discovery , oligonucleotide , trans acting sirna , genetics , gene expression , rna , bioinformatics
Progress is being made in the development of RNA interference‐based (RNAi‐based) strategies for the control of gene expression. It has been demonstrated that small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) can silence the expression of target genes in a sequence‐specific manner in mammalian cells. Various groups, including our own, have developed systems for vector‐mediated specific RNAi. Vector‐based siRNA‐ (or shRNA) expression libraries directed against the entire human genome and siRNA libraries based on chemically synthesized oligonucleotides now allow the rapid identification of functional genes and potential drug targets. Use of such libraries will enhance our understanding of numerous biological phenomena and contribute to the rational design of drugs against heritable, infectious and malignant diseases.