RNA interference

RNA interference is a gene-silencing process in which small RNAs guide molecular complexes to complementary RNA targets, causing target degradation or reduced translation.

Dicer: Dicer is an RNase III enzyme that cleaves double-stranded RNA into short RNA fragments. It produces small interfering RNAs and microRNA precursors that enter silencing pathways.
Double-stranded RNA: Double-stranded RNA consists of two complementary RNA strands paired into a duplex. It supplies the substrate for Dicer and can initiate RNA interference.
RNAi screening: RNAi screening uses collections of small RNAs to test how gene suppression affects a biological system. Systematic knockdown links genes to cellular phenotypes and disease mechanisms.
Antisense RNA: Antisense RNA is an RNA molecule complementary to another RNA that can alter its stability or translation. Earlier antisense experiments showed that complementary RNA could suppress gene expression.
CRISPR interference: CRISPR interference uses a guide RNA and a catalytically inactive Cas protein to repress transcription at targeted DNA. It silences gene expression at DNA rather than through small-RNA targeting of RNA.
Argonaute: Argonaute proteins bind small RNAs and use them to recognize complementary nucleic acid sequences. Argonaute forms the target-recognition core of RNA interference complexes.
Base pairing: Base pairing is the association of complementary nucleotide bases through hydrogen bonds. Complementarity lets small-RNA guides identify matching target sequences.
Gene knockdown: Gene knockdown is a reduction in gene expression without necessarily changing the underlying DNA sequence. RNA interference provides a widely used way to reduce specific gene products.
Petunia flower color experiments: Petunia flower color experiments in the 1990s unexpectedly produced gene silencing after introduction of extra pigment genes. The puzzling cosuppression phenomenon helped establish that silencing could be triggered by RNA.
Transcriptional gene silencing: Transcriptional gene silencing reduces RNA production by restricting transcription from a gene. Most canonical RNA interference acts on RNA after it has been transcribed.

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