Nucleic Acids Research 2004 32(15):4609-4617; doi:10.1093/nar/gkh790
Published online 27 August 2004
Nucleic Acids Research, Vol. 32 No. 15 © Oxford University Press 2004; all rights reserved
Relative gene-silencing efficiencies of small interfering RNAs targeting sense and antisense transcripts from the same genetic locus
Xiuyuan Hu*,
Sharlene Hipolito,
Rebecca Lynn,
Violet Abraham,
Silvester Ramos and
Flossie Wong-Staal
Immusol Incorporation, 10790 Roselle Street, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +1 858 824 1100; Fax: +1 858 824 1112; Email: hu{at}immusol.com
Received June 18, 2004; Revised and Accepted August 8, 2004
Short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) directed against different regions of genes display marked variation in their potency in mediating mRNA degradation. Various factors have been proposed to affect the efficacy of siRNA. We explored some of the factors by evaluating in cultured human cells 28 randomly selected siRNAs targeting the GPR39 and MGC29643transcripts derived from the same genetic locus but transcribed in opposite directions. Twenty of the 24 siRNAs targeting the overlapping regions of the transcripts simultaneously reduced the levels of both transcripts. Single nucleotide changes in either of the siRNA strands significantly reduced the gene-silencing efficiency of the siRNA on targeted sense transcript without affecting the antisense transcript. Overall, we observed a greater gene-silencing efficiency on the MGC29643transcript than on the GPR39 transcript in HeLa cells. Since MGC29643transcript is more abundant than the GPR39 transcript [0.24 versus 0.008% relative to 100% for glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH)], the results suggest that the abundance of the mRNA affects the efficiency of silencing. Two additional observations supported this hypothesis. First, GAPDH whose intracellular level is the highest of the three was the most efficiently silenced. Second, a reversal of gene-silencing efficiency was observed in U-138 MG cells in which the relative abundance of the GPR39 and MGC29643transcripts is also reversed. Our study suggests that low-abundant transcripts are less susceptible to siRNA-mediated degradation than medium- and high-abundant transcripts.

CiteULike
Connotea
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:

|
 |

|
 |
 
J. W. Klingelhoefer, L. Moutsianas, and C. Holmes
Approximate Bayesian feature selection on a large meta-dataset offers novel insights on factors that effect siRNA potency
Bioinformatics,
July 1, 2009;
25(13):
1594 - 1601.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
D. Zhou, J. Zhang, C. Wang, J. R. Bliesath, Q. He, D. Yu, Z. Li-He, and F. Wong-Staal
A method for detecting and preventing negative RNA interference in preparation of lentiviral vectors for siRNA delivery
RNA,
April 1, 2009;
15(4):
732 - 740.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
M. Koldehoff, D. W. Beelen, and A. H. Elmaagacli
Small-molecule inhibition of proteasome and silencing by vascular endothelial cell growth factor-specific siRNA induce additive antitumor activity in multiple myeloma
J. Leukoc. Biol.,
August 1, 2008;
84(2):
561 - 576.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
J. Zhang, C. Wang, N. Ke, J. Bliesath, J. Chionis, Q. S. He, Q.-x. Li, J. E. Chatterton, F. Wong-Staal, and D. Zhou
A more efficient RNAi inducible system for tight regulation of gene expression in mammalian cells and xenograft animals
RNA,
August 1, 2007;
13(8):
1375 - 1383.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
K. L. Egerod, B. Holst, P. S. Petersen, J. B. Hansen, J. Mulder, T. Hokfelt, and T. W. Schwartz
GPR39 Splice Variants Versus Antisense Gene LYPD1: Expression and Regulation in Gastrointestinal Tract, Endocrine Pancreas, Liver, and White Adipose Tissue
Mol. Endocrinol.,
July 1, 2007;
21(7):
1685 - 1698.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
J. Borawski, A. Lindeman, F. Buxton, M. Labow, and L. A. Gaither
Optimization Procedure for Small Interfering RNA Transfection in a 384-Well Format
J Biomol Screen,
June 1, 2007;
12(4):
546 - 559.
[Abstract]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
P. Xu, Y. Zhang, L. Kang, M. J. Roossinck, and K. S. Mysore
Computational Estimation and Experimental Verification of Off-Target Silencing during Posttranscriptional Gene Silencing in Plants
Plant Physiology,
October 1, 2006;
142(2):
429 - 440.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|