RNAi THERAPEUTICS

Abstract

RNA interference (RNAi) was discovered less than a decade ago and already there are human clinical trials in progress or planned. A major advantage of RNAi versus other antisense based approaches for therapeutic applications is that here cellular machinery that efficiently allows targeting of complementary transcripts is used, often resulting in highly potent down-regulation of gene expression. Despite the excitement about this remarkable biological process for sequence specific gene regulation, there are a number of hurdles and concerns that must be overcome prior to making RNAi a real therapeutic modality, which include off-target effects, triggering of type I interferon responses, and effective delivery in vivo. This review discusses various types of siRNA, mechanistic aspects of RNAi & the potential areas where RNAi therapeutics are applied. It is anticipated that RNAi will be a major therapeutic modality within the next several years, and clearly warrants intense investigation to fully understand the mechanisms involved.