Tuyển tập các báo cáo nghiên cứu về y học được đăng trên tạp chí y học quốc tế cung cấp cho các bạn kiến thức về ngành y đề tài: "RNA interference: more than a research tool in the vertebrates' adaptive immunity. | Retrovirology BioMed Central Commentary Open Access RNA interference more than a research tool in the vertebrates adaptive immunity Johnson Mak 1 2 Address 1Virology Program Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health Melbourne Australia and 2Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Monash University Clayton Australia Email Johnson Mak - mak@ Corresponding author Published 25 May 2005 Received 13 May 2005 Retrovirology 2005 2 35 doi 1742-4690-2-35 Accepted 25 May 2005 This article is available from http content 2 1 35 2005 Mak licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http licenses by which permits unrestricted use distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract In recent years RNA silencing usage of small double stranded RNAs of 21 - 25 base pairs to regulate gene expression has emerged as a powerful research tool to dissect the role of unknown host cell factors in this post-genomic era. While the molecular mechanism of RNA silencing has not been precisely defined the revelation that small RNA molecules are equipped with this regulatory function has transformed our thinking on the role of RNA in many facets of biology illustrating the complexity and the dynamic interplay of cellular regulation. As plants and invertebrates lack the protein-based adaptive immunity that are found in jawed vertebrates the ability of RNA silencing to shut down gene expression in a sequence-specific manner offers an explanation of how these organisms counteract pathogen invasions into host cells. It has been proposed that this type of RNA-mediated defence mechanism is an ancient form of immunity to offset the transgene- transposon- and virus-mediated attack. However whether 1 RNA silencing is a natural immune response in vertebrates to suppress .
