RNA干扰（RNAinterference, RNAi）是指在进化过程中高度保守的、由双链RNA（double-strandedRNA，dsRNA）诱发的、同源mRNA高效特异性降解的现象。由于使用RNAi技术可以特异性剔除或关闭特定基因的表达，所以该技术已被广泛用于探索基因功能和传染性疾病及恶性肿瘤的基因治疗领域。

RNAi不仅是技术，而且是生理现象，《科学》今天同时报道两组科学家的同类发现，RNAi在高等哺乳动物细胞水平上也具有抗病毒作用。过去曾经在植物和低等无脊椎动物发现此现象，现在的这一发现具有重要意义。不过从本质上讲，RNAi可以选择性阻断目标基因的表达，具有抗病毒的作用正是情理当中。无论如何，这种内源性抗病毒机制，可以给我们建立相应治疗手段带来联想。对人们对抗病毒感染提供了新的研究思路。赞一个。

RNA interference (RNAi) is anevolutionarily conserved pathway in cells for potent and specific silencing ofgene expression. It is triggered by the accumulation of double-stranded RNA(dsRNA), which is subsequently processed into small interfering RNA (siRNA) andtaken up into a protein complex that silences genes by cleaving theircomplementary RNAs (1). This mechanism has an important function in immunityagainst viruses in infected plants and invertebrates, but whether this is truein mammals has been widely debated (2). On pages 235 and 231 of this issue,Maillard et al. (3) and Li et al. (4) provide evidence for the existence of afunctional antiviral RNAi pathway in mammalian cells.

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RNA Interference Functions as an Antiviral Immunity Mechanism in Mammals 
Yang Li, Jinfeng Lu, Yanhong Han, XiaoxuFan, and Shou-Wei Ding Science 11 October 2013: 231-234.


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•                       ◦       REPORT 
Antiviral RNA Interference in Mammalian Cells 
P. V. Maillard, C. Ciaudo, A. Marchais, Y.Li, F. Jay, S. W. Ding, and Olivier Voinnet Science 11 October 2013: 235-238.


AbstractFull TextFull Text (PDF)SupplementaryMaterials