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Tuning silence: conditional systems for RNA interference

Nature Methods volume 3, pages 682–688 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

RNA interference (RNAi) has emerged as a powerful tool to downregulate the expression of specific genes. Drug-inducible systems allowing for conditional RNAi that offer the unique potential to modulate expression of virtually any endogenous gene in the cell have been recently developed. Their applications are very broad, ranging from basic studies of gene function to translational research including modeling of human diseases, analysis of potential side effects of candidate drugs, testing of gene-based therapies and loss-of-function screens. Here we summarize the state of the art of systems allowing for drug-controllable knockdown, and provide a description of their current and future applications.

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Figure 1: Current and potential application of conditional RNAi.
Figure 2: Design and mode of actions of the most commonly used reversible, drug-regulated systems for conditional knockdown.
Figure 3: Design and mode of actions of the irreversible systems for conditional knockdown.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Sciences, National Center for Competence in Research, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland

    Maciej Wiznerowicz, Jolanta Szulc & Didier Trono

  2. “Frontiers in Genetics” National Center for Competence in Research, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland

    Maciej Wiznerowicz & Didier Trono

Authors
  1. Maciej Wiznerowicz
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  2. Jolanta Szulc
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  3. Didier Trono
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Correspondence to Didier Trono.

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M.W. and D.T. have patented some of the technologies described in this paper.

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Wiznerowicz, M., Szulc, J. & Trono, D. Tuning silence: conditional systems for RNA interference. Nat Methods 3, 682–688 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth914

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