Introduction To Proteomics and Genomics: Asma Asif FA17-BSI-002 DR Ibrahim
Introduction To Proteomics and Genomics: Asma Asif FA17-BSI-002 DR Ibrahim
Introduction To Proteomics and Genomics: Asma Asif FA17-BSI-002 DR Ibrahim
DIAGRAM:
EXPLANATION:
The term RNA interference (RNAi) was coined to describe a cellular mechanism that use the
gene's own DNA sequence of gene to turn it off, a process that researchers call silencing. In a
wide variety of organisms, including animals, plants, and fungi, RNAi is triggered by double-
stranded RNA (dsRNA).
During RNAi, long dsRNA is cut or "diced" into small fragments ~21 nucleotides long by an
enzyme called "Dicer". These small fragments, referred to as small interfering RNAs (siRNA),
bind to proteins from a special family: the Argonaute proteins. After binding to an Argonaute
protein, one strand of the dsRNA is removed, leaving the remaining strand available to bind to
messenger RNA target sequences according to the rules of base pairing: A binds U, G binds C,
and vice versa. Once bound, the Argonaute protein can either cleave the messenger RNA,
destroying it, or recruit accessory factors to regulate the target sequence in other ways.
RNAi is widely used by researchers to silence genes in order to learn something about their
function. siRNAs can be designed to match any gene, can be manufactured cheaply, and can be
readily administered to cells. One can now order commercially synthesized siRNAs to silence
virtually any gene in a human or other organism's cell, dramatically accelerating the pace of
biomedical research. Furthermore, the ability to turn off expression of a single gene makes RNAi
an appealing therapeutic approach to treat infectious diseases or genetic disorders, such as those
that result from the inappropriate and undesirable activity of a gene, as in many cancers and
neurodegenerative diseases. There are currently several clinical trials testing the safety and
effectiveness of siRNA drugs.
RNAi is much more than a research tool. RNAi encompasses an array of ancient and
sophisticated cellular mechanisms that regulate a variety of biological functions. Argonaute
proteins bind many naturally occurring small RNAs to defend against transposable elements,
maintain chromosome structure and stability, and regulate developmental timing and
differentiation. For example, microRNAs represent a natural form of developmentally-important
siRNAs. Like siRNAs, microRNAs are made by Dicer, but microRNA derive from single-
stranded RNAs that fold back on themselves to generate small regions of double-stranded RNA
so called "stem-loops"— instead of the long double-stranded RNA that produces siRNAs.
microRNAs can guide Argonaute proteins to repress messenger RNAs that match the miRNA
incompletely, allowing one microRNA to regulate hundreds of genes. Humans make more than
500 distinct microRNAs, and the inappropriate production of specific microRNAs has been
linked to several diseases. Drugs to inhibit disease-causing microRNAs are now being tested as
therapies for several human diseases.
References:
https://www.umassmed.edu/rti/biology/how-rnai works/#:~:text=The%20term%20RNA
%20interference%20(RNAi,%2Dstranded%20RNA%20(dsRNA).