期刊名称:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN:0027-8424
电子版ISSN:1091-6490
出版年度:2002
卷号:99
期号:23
页码:14943-14945
DOI:10.1073/pnas.242594499
语种:English
出版社:The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要:RNA interference is an evolutionarily conserved process in which recognition of double-stranded RNA ultimately leads to posttranscriptional suppression of gene expression. This suppression is mediated by short (21- to 22-nt) small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), which induce degradation of mRNA based on complementary base pairing. The silencing of gene expression by siRNAs is emerging rapidly as a powerful method for genetic analysis. Recently, several groups have reported systems designed to express siRNAs in mammalian cells through transfection of either oligonucleotides or plasmids encoding siRNAs. Because these systems rely on transfection for delivery, the cell types available for study are restricted generally to transformed cell lines. Here, we describe a retroviral system for delivery of siRNA into cells. The use of retroviral vectors can greatly expand the types of cells available for RNA interference analysis. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this retroviral system allows for stable inactivation of genes in primary cells.