RNA Interference News and Research

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“MixOmicron” SARS-CoV-2 recombinant evades variant screening

A new study describes a new variant that resembles the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.21 for the most part but has a small segment at the 3’ tip that belongs to the BA.1 variant.

5 Apr 2022

Antiviral functions of interferon regulatory factors during human coronavirus infection

Researchers assessed the roles of the interferon regulatory factors: IRF1, IRF3, and IRF7 in infections by human coronaviruses.

30 Mar 2022

Study identified multiple siRNAs spanning the SARS-CoV-2 genome with potent antiviral activity

A recent study demonstrated that RNA interference could prophylactically protect against SARS-CoV-2.

24 Mar 2022

Study finds how genetic baggage can accumulate in the genomes of normal and mutant animals

You are probably familiar with the term that some people carry "a lot of extra baggage." Usually that term refers to that person's emotional history, but in genetics and our genomes, "extra baggage" can also describe the transposons lurking in our genomes, a historical record of our genomes surviving traumatic invasions during evolution.

4 Mar 2022

New study holds promise to help plants defend themselves against viruses

New research, led by Washington State University scientists, into how viral proteins interact and can be disabled holds promise to help plants defend themselves against viruses-;and ultimately prevent crop losses.

25 Jan 2022

Single-patient pilot study shows the ability of antisense oligonucleotide to suppress mutant ALS gene

Using a short, synthetic chain of chemically modified nucleotides engineered in the RNA Therapeutics Institute at UMass Chan Medical School, Robert H. Brown Jr., DPhil, MD, Jonathan Watts, PhD, and colleagues have shown the ability to suppress mutant forms of an ALS gene known as C9ORF72 in a single-patient pilot study.

24 Dec 2021

An assessment of pH-sensitive cationic lipid nanoparticles for drug delivery

A recent review looks at the molecular design of pH-sensitive cationic lipids and their applications for various tissues and cell types.

7 Dec 2021

Discovery of a broad-spectrum antiviral activity in self-assembling immunostimulatory duplex RNAs

A new study, published on the bioRxiv* preprint server, has discovered a class of new immunostimulatory RNAs while studying influenza infection-associated host genes in human lung epithelial cells using small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). Scientists revealed that these short duplex RNAs could induce type I and type III interferons (IFN-I/III) in a wide variety of cells.

23 Nov 2021

Scientists develop an extremely potent siRNA with broad activity against SARS-CoVs

Researchers in Germany have developed a promising approach to suppressing the viral replication of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

12 Oct 2021

Research reveals nucleolar RNA interference based on C. elegans as a model organism

A research group led by Prof. GUANG Shouhong from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, collaborating with Prof. FENG Xuezhu from the First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, revealed the nucleolar RNA interference based on Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) as a model organism. The study was published in Nuclear Acids Research.

28 Sep 2021

New SARS-CoV-2 mechanism of host gene suppression

A new study finds that the viral non-coding RNA dubbed vmiR-5p, derived from the viral gene ORF7a, appears to reduce host transcription.

13 Sep 2021

Nanoparticles-assisted delivery of antiviral-siRNA for treatment of COVID-19

A review aimed to determine the potential of siRNA as a potential COVID-19 treatment by reviewing the currently available literature.

10 Sep 2021

Study uncovers new mechanism for memory transfer between individual roundworms

When an organism encounters a threat in its environment, it is to the species' advantage to warn others of the peril.

4 Sep 2021

Specialized protein appears to regulate key step in cancer metastasis

Researchers have identified a specialized protein that appears to help prevent tumor cells from entering the bloodstream and spreading to other parts of the body.

12 Jul 2021

Researchers identify key protein that allows cancer-destroying viruses to enter tumor cells

Researchers from the Laboratory of Oncolytic-Virus-Immuno-Therapeutics (LOVIT) at the LIH Department of Oncology (DONC) are working on the development of novel anticancer strategies based on oncolytic viruses, "good" viruses that can specifically infect, replicate in and kill cancer cells.

30 Jun 2021

Repurposed gout medication (probenecid) shows potent inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 replication

New research by a team of scientists in the USA describes the potential utility of a drug called probenecid, commonly used to treat gout, to treat this devastating viral illness caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the causative virus of COVID-19.

25 May 2021

A promising drug delivery system for therapeutics that shut down harmful genes

Viruses attack the body by sending their genetic code -- DNA and RNA -- into cells and multiplying. A promising class of therapeutics that uses synthetic nucleic acids to target and shut down specific, harmful genes and prevent viruses from spreading is gaining steam.

18 May 2021

Research opens up the possibility of dietary therapy for cancer

A research group at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR) has discovered molecular events that determine whether cancer cells live or die. With this knowledge, they found that reduced consumption of a specific protein building block prevents the growth of cells that become cancerous.

27 Apr 2021

Interfering RNA nanoparticles could be a potential COVID-19 therapy

Study shows lipid nanoparticle-based siRNA is potent in suppressing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) – in cells as well as in mice models.

21 Apr 2021

SARS-CoV-2 inhibits the cellular response to interferon

Researchers have explored the effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the function of RIG-I and MDA5, and ultimately on interferon production.

31 Mar 2021