siRNA及其运载系统研究进展

小干扰RNA （small interfering RNA,siRNA）通过基因干扰技术进行有针对性的基因沉默,其控制目标基因表达的能力为基因治疗癌症和遗传性疾病提供了新的希望。但siRNA的药理性能很低,如血清稳定性低、脱靶、先天免疫反应,为临床治疗提供了一个挑战。由于负离子性能和刚性结构致使siRNA难以穿透细胞膜,因此,构建安全、稳定、高效的siRNA运载系统将siRNA运载到靶细胞的细胞质是至关重要的。作者综述了几种可增强体内外细胞摄取和靶基因沉默的广泛、发达的非病毒性siRNA运载系统,并讨论了它们的特点和进行siRNA治疗用于临床应用的机会,以期为今后siRNA的研究与临床应用奠定基础。     

RNAi基因沉默的动力学研究进展

RNA干扰(RNAi)是一种由小双链RNA介导的转录后基因沉默现象。在RNAi发挥基因沉默效能的过程中,许多因素都会直接或间接的影响最终的沉默效率和沉默时间。论文从siRNA类型的选择、siRNA的递送和细胞内的RNAi途径3个方面对RNAi途径中各个影响其效能发挥的因素及其解决方法做一综述,同时对描述RNAi基因沉默动力学的数学模型及其应用进行了介绍。     

siRNA 介导的家蚕ABC转运蛋白相关基因的干涉研究

由siRNA(smallinterferingRNA)介导的RNAi作为一种工具已被广泛用于基因功能研究中,并有望应用于生物体疾病的防治方面。通过显微注射,在家蚕中以siRNA介导的方式,对家蚕ABC转运蛋白(ATPbindingcassettetransporter)系列相关基因(Bmwh1,Bmwh2,Bmwh3)进行了siRNA干涉研究,在部分基因中得到了高效特异的干涉现象。结果初步证实正义链3′碱基错配的siRNA也具有显著的干涉效果。实验还显示了siRNA较之于dsRNA介导的RNAi更具有优势,表明siRNA介导的RNAi可作为基因功能分析和未来的基因操作手段在家蚕的研究中应用。     

转基因小鼠中应用RNAi的初步探讨

RNA干扰(RNA interference,RNAi)是通过双链RNA介导,特异性地降解相应序列的mRNA,从而导致转录后水平的基因沉默。近年来,利用小分子RNA(small interfering RNA,siRNA)介导的RNAi技术已越来越多的应用于哺乳动物细胞中。同时,在活体中利用RNAi研究多种生物基因功能也成为一种有效的手段。文章旨在介绍在转基因小鼠中RNAi的应用。     

RNAi导致基因沉默的机制和应用进展

RNAi主要通过双链RNA(dsRNA)被核酸酶切割成21~23 nt的干涉性小的RNA,即siRNA,由siRNA介导识别并靶向切割同源性靶mRNA分子而实现的；RNAi需要多种蛋白质因子以及ATP参与,而且具有生物催化反应特征；RNAi具有高效性和高度特异性,作为一种关闭特定基因的新技术,为基因功能研究提供了一个快速、简便的方法,在后基因组时代应用前景广阔。     

Suppression of bovine viral diarrhea virus replication by small interfering RNA and short hairpin RNA-mediated RNA interference

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is a ubiquitous viral pathogen that affects cattle herds' worldwide causing significant economic loss. The current strategies to control BVDV infection include vaccination (modified-live or killed) and control of virus spread by enhanced biosecurity management, however, the disease remains prevalent. With the discovery of the sequence-specific method of gene silencing known as RNA interference (RNAi), a new era in antiviral therapies has begun. Here we report the efficient inhibition of BVDV replication by small interfering (siRNA) and short hairpin RNA (shRNA)-mediated gene silencing. siRNAs were generated to target the 5' non-translated (NTR) region and the regions encoding the C, NS4B and NS5A proteins of the BVDV genome. The siRNAs were first validated using an EGFP/BVDV reporter system and were then shown to suppress BVDV-induced cytopathic effects and viral titers in cell culture with surprisingly different activities compared to the reporter system. Efficient viral suppression was then achieved by bovine 7SK-expressed BVDV-specific shRNAs. Overall, our results demonstrated the use of siRNA and shRNA-mediated gene silencing to achieve efficient inhibition of the replication of this virus in cell culture.     

Usage of putative chicken U6 promoters for vector-based RNA interference

Gene silencing with short interfering RNA (siRNA) expression vectors is a powerful method for the analysis of gene functions. For the expression of siRNA in mammalian cells, mammalian U6 small nuclear RNA (snRNA) promoters are widely used. However, the mammalian U6 promoter might not function well in other species. In this study, we cloned four putative chicken U6 promoters by PCR and analyzed their functions. First, we screened the chicken genomic database using the human U6 snRNA gene and identified four candidate sequences. The sequences contained some control elements in their promoter regions, but as we could not rule out that they were pseudogenes, we amplified these sequences and used them as promoters for short hairpin RNA (shRNA) expression. Using the firefly luciferase (Luc) gene as a target, transient expression assays were performed with chicken ovary-derived cells. All four putative chicken U6 promoters exhibited suppressive activity toward Luc, and so could act as a promoter for expression of the snRNA gene in the chicken genome. The promoter activity was not as strong as that of a commercially available siRNA expression vector. This probably reflects artificial sequences between the promoters and synthetic DNA encoding shRNA.     

Evaluation of RNA interference in developing porcine granulosa cells using fluorescence reporter genes

Gene silencing using small interfering RNA (siRNA) may be useful for functional analyses of unidentified genes expressed during cell differentiation. The present study was performed to evaluate RNA interference (RNAi) in porcine granulosa cells stimulated with bovine FSH, by using two fluorescence reporter genes: a plasmid encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP) and a plasmid encoding red fluorescent protein (RFP). The siRNA targeting GFP mRNA sequence (GFP-siRNA) with both plasmids was introduced into cultured cells by lipofection. GFP- and RFP-expressing cells were observed under fluorescence microscopy and analyzed by flow cytometry. Strong fluorescence was observed after introduction of both plasmids into cells. The intensity of green fluorescence generated by GFP was greatly suppressed by introduction of GFP-siRNA, showing an approximate 70% decrease in the ratio of green to red fluorescence. Consequently, we concluded that gene silencing by siRNA can be used to analyze the functions of genes of interest during differentiation of porcine granulosa cells.     

RNA干扰的研究方法

RNA干扰(RNAi)技术是把与内源mRNA编码区同源的小片段外源双链RNA(doublestranded RNA)导入细胞中,导致特定基因表达沉默的一种技术.本文简要描述了RNAi的起源、原理、在动物方面的应用领域;主要叙述了RNAi技术的机制以及siRNA试验步骤,包括siRNA的设计、合成、检测方法等;比较了各种方法的特点.     

Gene silencing of cyclooxygenase-2 mRNA by RNA interference in bovine cumulus-granulosa cells

Inhibition of specific gene expression using RNA interference (RNAi) is a valuable tool for functional analysis of a target gene. However, there is little information available concerning RNAi for analysis of gene function in relation to the reproductive physiology of follicular cells in ruminants. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the interfering effect of small interference RNA (siRNA) on expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2) mRNA and prostagrandin F(2alpha) (PGF(2alpha)) production in bovine cumulus-granulosa (CG) cells. Bovine CG cells were collected from aspirated follicles and cultured. After reaching confluency, two experiments were conducted. In experiment 1, to investigate the effective concentration of siRNA, 0, 100, 250 and 500 pM of Cox-2 siRNA was introduced into the CG cells, respectively. After 24 h, the amount of Cox-2 mRNA expression was measured by RT-PCR and real-time PCR. In experiment 2, to investigate the time required for effective interference of siRNA and Cox-2 activity, 250 pM siRNA was introduced for 0, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h. After culture, the amount of Cox-2 mRNA expression was measured and the culture medium was collected to determine the PGF(2alpha) concentration by enzyme immunoassay. The Cox-2 mRNA expression was not affected by introduction of 100 pM siRNA into CG cells for 24 h, but 250 and 500 pM Cox-2 siRNA significantly reduced the Cox-2 mRNA expression. Moreover, the significant suppressive effect of 250 pM siRNA was observed 6 h after introduction, and the reduction of mRNA expression by RNAi became more obvious over 12 h. On the other hand, the PGF(2alpha) concentration in the culture medium was not significantly different 12 h after siRNA introduction; however, the PGF(2alpha) concentration 24 h after siRNA introduction was significantly decreased compared with the control at the same time point. These results suggest that gene silencing of Cox-2 with siRNA is capable of analyzing the function and expression of specific genes in bovine CG cells.     

Inhibition of porcine circovirus type 1 and type 2 production in PK-15 cells by small interfering RNAs targeting the Rep gene

Porcine circovirus type 1 (PCV1) and type 2 (PCV2) are two genotypes of porcine circovirus. Both of them are presumed to be widespread in the swine population. Currently, there is no specific treatment for their infections. RNA interference (RNAi) is a sequence-specific RNA degradation mechanism mediated by small interfering RNA (siRNA), which represents a possible therapeutic application for the treatment of viral infections. In this study, three siRNA expression plasmids (pS-RepA, pS-RepB and pS-RepC) were generated to target three different coding regions of the Rep protein (Rep) of PCV. These siRNAs were used to inhibit PCV production in a porcine kidney cell line, PK-15 cells. Our results revealed that Rep gene expression was inhibited by pS-RepA, pS-RepB and pS-RepC to different degrees. Moreover, our study also showed that the production of PCV1 and PCV2 was reduced by these siRNAs. pS-RepC, which targets the middle region of Rep gene, proved to be the most efficient siRNA for inhibition of Rep expression and viral production. Taken together, our data suggest that RNAi could be investigated as a potential treatment for PCV infection.     

PCV2通过NF-κB/NLRP3信号通路调控体外培养PAMs分泌IL-1β

为探讨猪圆环病毒2型（porcine circovirus 2,PCV2）诱导猪肺泡巨噬细胞（porcine alveolar macrophages,PAMs）产生白细胞介素-1β（interleukin-1β,IL-1β）的分子机制,试验选取2头PCV2和PRRSV抗原、抗体均为阴性的6周龄普通仔猪,无菌分离PAMs,以体外培养的PAMs为研究对象,采用ELISA方法检测PAMs培养上清液中IL-1β的生成,采用实时荧光定量PCR方法检测PAMs中NLRP3和凋亡相关点样蛋白（apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD,ASC）的mRNA表达水平,分别用小干扰RNA（siRNA）方法和核因子-kappa B（NF-κB）抑制试验分析NLRP3和NF-κB对PCV2诱导PAMs产生IL-1β的调控作用。结果显示,PCV2感染PAMs后能够显著或极显著增加IL-1β、NLRP3（1 h除外）和ASC（1、3 h除外）的生成（P<0.05;P<0.01）。siRNA能使58.3%的NLRP3基因沉默,且NLRP3沉默后PCV2诱导PAMs产生IL-1β的水平显著下降（P<0.05）。NF-κB被抑制后PCV2诱导PAMs产生IL-1β的水平也明显下降。结果表明,PCV2通过NF-κB/NLRP3信号通路调控体外培养PAMs分泌IL-1β。     

Effectiveness of small interfering RNA (siRNA) against the Mcl-1 gene in a canine mammary gland tumor cell line

The effect of down-regulation of Mcl-1 expression by small interfering RNA (siRNA) against the canine Mcl-1 gene on apoptosis was investigated by transfecting CF33 (canine mammary gland tumor cell line) with siRNA using cationic liposomes. The siRNA against canine Mcl-1 increased the rate of apoptotic cells and decreased the numbers of viable cells. Further, sequence-specific down-regulation of Mcl-1 expression was measured by real time-PCR and Western blot analysis. The siRNA directed against the Mcl-1 gene reduced both the mRNA and protein expression in the CF33. Our study suggests the importance of Mcl-1 in canine mammary tumors for inducing apoptosis and reinforces using Mcl-1 as a putative therapeutic target in canine mammary gland tumor.     

RNA干扰技术及其在基因治疗和药物开发上的应用

RNA干扰(RNAi)是指双链RNA引起的mRNA水平互补序列基因表达的关闭,即序列特异性转录后基因沉默,是生物体进化过程中抵御外来基因和病毒感染的进化保守机制.RNAi技术不仅被广泛地应用于基因功能研究,而且在基因治疗中显示出极大的潜力.随着RNA干扰机制的深入研究与广泛应用,RNA干扰已用在药物研究中的各个领域,尤其在药物开发上,能够解决临床前药物开发的一些瓶颈问题,如药靶鉴定,优化药靶,从而节省时间和资金,并提高成功率,加速药物的临床研究.同时,RNAi在药物研究的其他领域都也显示了巨大的作用,为药物研究提供了强大的工具.文章阐述了近年来这一新兴生物学技术的发展及其在基因治疗和药物开发研究中的应用和前景.     

Dual targeting of EGFR and ERBB2 pathways produces a synergistic effect on cancer cell proliferation and migration in vitro

Members of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR/ERBB) gene family are frequently dysregulated in a range of human cancers, and therapeutics targeting these proteins are in clinical use. We hypothesized that similar pathways are involved in feline and canine tumours and that the same drugs may be of clinical use in veterinary patients. We investigated EGFR and ERBB2 targeting using a panel of feline and canine cell lines. EGFR and ERBB2 were targeted with siRNAs or tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and their effect on cellular proliferation, colony formation and migration was investigated in vitro. Here we report that EGFR and ERBB2 combined siRNA targeting produced synergistic effects in feline and canine cell lines similar to that reported in human cell lines. We conclude that dual EGFR and ERBB2 targeting using TKIs should be further evaluated as a potential new therapeutic strategy in feline head and neck and mammary tumours and canine mammary tumours.