This web page was produced as an assignment for Genetics 677, an undergraduate course at UW-Madison.
RNA interference
RNAi mechanism
RNA interference (RNAi) involves the use of long double-stranded RNA to silence the expression of target genes in an organism. I searched through primary literature articles for previously demonstrated RNAi experiments involving HLA-DQA1 and found a successful example, "Effective shutdown in the expression of celiac disease-related wheat gliadin T-cell epitopes by RNA interference" [2]. For a link to the full article online click here.
In this article, the authors used RNAi to down-regulate the expression of gliadin in transgenic lines of wheat. Following testing, it was found that some of the T-cell responses in patients were reduced while others were completely blocked in reaction to the transgenic line. This experiment shows that using RNAi to down regulate gliadin expression levels can create transgenic wheat lines with very low toxicity levels for CD patients [2].
In this article, the authors used RNAi to down-regulate the expression of gliadin in transgenic lines of wheat. Following testing, it was found that some of the T-cell responses in patients were reduced while others were completely blocked in reaction to the transgenic line. This experiment shows that using RNAi to down regulate gliadin expression levels can create transgenic wheat lines with very low toxicity levels for CD patients [2].
References
- http://www.ambion.com/techlib/append/RNAi_mechanism.html
- Barro, Francisco et al. 2010. "Effective shutdown in the expression of celiac disease-related wheat gliadin T-cell epitopes by RNA interference" Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America. vol. 107(39). pp. 10723-28. Accessed 8 May 2011. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2947919/?report=abstract>
