Review on: Short Hairpin Ribonucleic Acid (RNA)

Abstract

RNA interference (RNAi), an accurate and potent gene silencing method, was first experimentally documented in 1998 in Caenorhabditis elegans by Fire et al. Subsequent RNAi studies have demonstrated that the clinical potential of synthetic small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), micro RNAs (miRNAs) and short hairpin RNAs shRNAs) used in various types of diseases such as cancer, neurodegenerative disorders and other metabolic diseases. siRNAs generally range from 21 to 25 base pairs (bp) in length and have sequence-homology-driven gene- knockdown capability. RNAi offers researchers an effortless tool for investigating biological systems by selectively silencing genes. Nevertheless, this area shows a huge potential for the pharmaceutical industry around the globe. Interestingly, recent studies have shown that the small RNA molecules, either indigenously produced as miRNAs) or exogenously administered synthetic dsRNAs, could effectively activate a particular gene in a sequence specific manner instead of silencing it. This novel phenomenon has been termed ‘RNA activation’ (RNAa). In this review, we analyze these research findings and discussed the function and applications of siRNAs, miRNAs, and shRNAs.