ResourceLife Sciences
Off-target effects: Disturbing the silence of RNA interference
25 Nov 2020Off-target effects occur when an siRNA is processed by the RNA-Induced Silencing Complex (RISC) and down-regulates unintended targets. As these changes in gene expression can lead to measurable phenotypes (such as false positives) it is of great importance to understand the mechanism behind off-targeting so that strategies can be developed to minimize their effects. Horizon Discovery has discovered that bioinformatics, novel chemical modifications, and siRNA pooling significantly decrease off-target effects. These three strategies are incorporated into the Dharmacon™ ON-TARGETplus™ and SMARTpool™ siRNA reagents.
Tags
RNA InterferenceRNA interference (RNAi) uses siRNA or miRNA for transcriptional silencing, gene knockdown and regulation of gene expression. RNAi requires chemical synthesis, introduction of DNA vectors into cells, an assay of RNAi effects and RNAi quantification or analysis. Consider target sequence selection, reagent preparation, controls, high specificity and effectiveness and low non-specific gene knockdown.RNAi