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Stopping RNA interference at the seed

Nature Genetics volume 43, pages 288–289 (2011)Cite this article

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MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate expression of more than one half of the genes in the human genome. A study now reports a new method for selectively silencing whole families of miRNAs, thus providing a new paradigm for disease therapy.

The initial description of miRNAs that modulate the expression of protein-encoding mRNAs created an entirely new paradigm in gene regulation1. Defects in specific miRNA expression levels have been linked to disease onset and progression, and loss or gain of miRNA function has been directly linked to various cancers2. On page 371 of this issue, a study by Sakari Kauppinen and colleagues3 describes an important new strategy for silencing the function of miRNAs. Their work capitalizes upon earlier studies, which showed that backbone-modified antisense oligos, called antagomirs or antimiRs, hybridize with and block the function of miRNAs in vitro and in vivo4,5.

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Figure 1: Silencing miRNA families with tiny LNAs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. John J. Rossi is at the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, Duarte, California, USA.,

    John J Rossi

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  1. John J Rossi
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Correspondence to John J Rossi.

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The author declares no competing financial interests.

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Rossi, J. Stopping RNA interference at the seed. Nat Genet 43, 288–289 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng0411-288

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ng0411-288

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