Another article via Google News Alerts. Is this really novel, doing the gene silencing in the nucleus itself? No word of how they handle the delivery. TIA.
Cheers,
Tom
signonsandiego.com
San Diego scientists have developed a way to shut down a gene before it is activated in the nucleus of a cell, according to a study by researchers with UCSD and the VA San Diego Health Care System.
The technique, called "transcriptional gene silencing," provides a new tool to study the function of genes and might someday play a role in modifying the expression of genes linked to disease, scientists said.
Researchers emphasized that the work, which was published online in the Aug. 5 edition of Science Express, is preliminary and requires further study before it can be applied as a medical tool.
The new technique acts similarly to older gene silencing techniques that use synthetic pieces of ribonucleic acid, called "short interfering RNA," or siRNA, to shut down genes. Gene-silencing has given rise to a multimillion-dollar pharmaceutical industry that patterns synthetic versions of siRNA after naturally occurring ones. Scientists believe naturally-occurring siRNA may defend against gene sequences from viruses and other parasites.
The versions of siRNA developed at UCSD are new because they are engineered to act directly inside a cell's nucleus, rather than outside the nucleus in the cell's cytoplasm. Once inside, the new versions of siRNA stop the first stage of gene expression, called transcription, before it begins.
By shutting down genes in the nucleus of a cell, scientists believe siRNA action could last longer than current methods.
"Theoretically, one could envision targeting virtually any gene . . . and silencing (it)," said Kevin V. Morris, the study's first author and a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of David J. Looney.
"This has implications in most biological processes in which one would want to . . . (shut down) the expression of a gene, such as those genes involved in virus infections such as HIV, as well as human cancers and certain genetic disorders."
Future studies in Looney's lab will investigate how persistently the new siRNA works in the nucleus of human cells, how effectively it targets genes, and whether it can specifically inhibit HIV and other viruses. |
