RNA-mediated interference (RNAi) is a method to inhibit gene function by introduction of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). Recently, an RNAi library was constructed that consists of bacterial clones expressing dsRNA, corresponding to nearly 90% of the 19,427 predicted genes of C. elegans. Feeding of this RNAi library to the standard wild-type laboratory strain Bristol N2 detected phenotypes for appr...

The discovery of RNA interference in C. elegans in 1998 has established this nematode as a key model to study RNAi mechanisms. Meanwhile, RNAi has been extensively applied to study a variety of basic biological questions in worms. In C. elegans, the dsRNA required to trigger RNAi can be administered by injection, by soaking, and importantly, by feeding. The delivery of dsRNA through food and th...

We show that human adenovirus inhibits RNA interference (RNAi) at late times of infection by suppressing the activity of two key enzyme systems involved, Dicer and RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC). To define the mechanisms by which adenovirus blocks RNAi, we used a panel of mutant adenoviruses defective in virus-associated (VA) RNA expression. The results show that the virus-associated RNAs...

RNAi is a ubiquitous pathway that serves central functions throughout eukaryotes, including maintenance of genome stability and repression of transposon expression and movement. However, a number of organisms have lost their RNAi pathways, including the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the maize pathogen Ustilago maydis, the human pathogen Cryptococcus deuterogattii, and some human parasit...

The human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum represses transcription of the gene encoding AP2-G, which is master regulator germ cell differentiation, via heterochromatin condensation following histone H3 lysine 9 trimethylation (H3K9me3). Although H3K9me3-marked typically constitutive and its establishment depends on RNA interference (RNAi) pathway in fission yeast centromeres, parasites la...

Melanoma cells have been shown to undergo fast amoeboid (leader bleb-based) migration, requiring a single large bleb for migration. In leader blebs, is rapid flow of cortical actin that drives the cell forward. Using RNAi, we find co-depleting cofilin-1 and depolymerizing factor (ADF) led increase in actin, suggesting both proteins regulate actin. Furthermore, severing factors can promote contr...

RNA interference (RNAi) in the nematode worm, Caenorhabditis elegans, occurs systemically. Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) provided in the diet can be absorbed from the gut lumen and distributed throughout the body, triggering RNAi in tissues that are not exposed to the initial dsRNA trigger. This is in marked contrast to other animals, in which RNAi does not spread from targeted tissues to neighbo...

RNAi strategies present promising antiviral strategies against HBV. RNAi strategies require base pairing between short RNAi effectors and targets in the HBV pregenome or other RNAs. Natural variation in HBV genotypes, quasispecies variation, or mutations selected by the RNAi strategy could potentially make these strategies less effective. However, current and proposed antiviral strategies again...

Background RNA interference (RNAi) has emerged as a powerful genetic tool for scientific research over the past several years. RNAi is known as a conserved integral part of the gene regulation processes present in all eukaryotes that utilizes small RNAs (sRNAs) to direct the silencing of gene expression at i.a. the post-transcriptional level. Posttranscriptional gene silencing (PTGS) starts wit...

RNA interference (RNAi), including microRNAs, is an important player in the mediation of differentiation and migration of stem cells via target genes. It is used as a potential strategy for gene therapy for central nervous system (CNS) diseases. Stem cells are considered vectors of RNAi due to their capacity to deliver RNAi to other cells. In this review, we discuss the recent advances in studi...