RNA sequence-specific mediators of RNA interference
First Claim
1. Isolated RNA of from about 21 to about 23 nucleotides that mediates RNA interference of an mRNA to which it corresponds.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to a Drosophila in vitro system which was used to demonstrate that dsRNA is processed to RNA segments 21-23 nucleotides (nt) in length. Furthermore, when these 21-23 nt fragments are purified and added back to Drosophila extracts, they mediate RNA interference in the absence of long dsRNA. Thus, these 21-23 nt fragments are the sequence-specific mediators of RNA degradation. A molecular signal, which may be their specific length, must be present in these 21-23 nt fragments to recruit cellular factors involved in RNAi. This present invention encompasses these 21-23 nt fragments and their use for specifically inactivating gene function. The use of these fragments (or chemically synthesized oligonucleotides of the same or similar nature) enables the targeting of specific mRNAs for degradation in mammalian cells, where the use of long dsRNAs to elicit RNAi is usually not practical, presumably because of the deleterious effects of the interferon response. This specific targeting of a particular gene function is useful in functional genomic and therapeutic applications.
-
Citations
75 Claims
- 1. Isolated RNA of from about 21 to about 23 nucleotides that mediates RNA interference of an mRNA to which it corresponds.
-
5. Isolated RNA of from about 21 to about 23 nucleotides that inactivates a corresponding gene by transcriptional silencing.
- 6. A soluble extract that mediates RNA interference.
-
9. A method of producing RNA of from about 21 to about 23 nucleotides in length comprising:
-
(a) combining double-stranded RNA with a soluble extract that mediates RNA interference, thereby producing a combination; and
(b) maintaining the combination of a) under conditions in which the double-stranded RNA is processed to RNA of from about 21 to about 23 nucleotides in length. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A method of producing RNA of from about 21 to about 23 nucleotides in length that mediates RNA interference of mRNA of a gene to be degraded, comprising:
-
(a) combining double-stranded RNA that corresponds to a sequence of the gene to be degraded with a soluble extract that mediates RNA interference, thereby producing a combination; and
(b) maintaining the combination of (a) under conditions under which the double-stranded RNA is processed to RNA of from about 21 to about 23 nucleotides that mediates RNA interference of the mRNA of the gene to be degraded, thereby producing RNA of from about 21 to about 23 nucleotides that mediates RNA interference of the mRNA. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 48, 49, 50)
-
-
17. A method of mediating RNA interference of mRNA of a gene in a cell or organism comprising:
-
(a) introducing RNA of from about 21 to about 23 nucleotides which targets the mRNA of the gene for degradation into the cell or organism;
(b) maintaining the cell or organism produced in (a) under conditions under which degradation of the mRNA occurs, thereby mediating RNA interference of the mRNA of the gene in the cell or organism. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 51, 52, 53)
-
-
20. A method of mediating RNA interference of mRNA of a gene in a cell or organism in which RNA interference occurs, comprising:
-
(a) combining double-stranded RNA that corresponds to a sequence of the gene with a soluble extract that mediates RNA interference, thereby producing a combination;
(b) maintaining the combination produced in (a) under conditions under which the double-stranded RNA is processed to RNA of from about 21 to about 23 nucleotides, thereby producing RNA of from about 21 to about 23 nucleotides;
(c) isolating RNA of from about 21 to about 23 nucleotides produced in (b);
(d) introducing RNA isolated in (c) into the cell or organism; and
(e) maintaining the cell or organism produced in (d) under conditions under which degradation of mRNA of the gene occurs, thereby mediating RNA interference of the mRNA of the gene in the cell or organism. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
-
-
23. A method of mediating RNA interference of mRNA of a gene in a cell or organism in which RNA interference occurs, comprising:
- (a) introducing into the cell or organism RNA of from about 21 to about 23 nucleotides that mediates RNA interference of mRNA of the gene, thereby producing a cell or organism that contains the RNA and (b) maintaining the cell or organism that contains the RNA under conditions under which RNA interference occurs, thereby mediating RNA interference of mRNA of the gene in the cell or organism.
- View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 54, 55, 56)
-
28. A method of examining the function of a gene in a cell or organism comprising:
-
(a) introducing RNA of from about 21 to about 23 nucleotides that targets mRNA of the gene for degradation into the cell or organism, thereby producing a test cell or test organism;
(b) maintaining the test cell or test organism under conditions under which degradation of mRNA of the gene occurs, thereby producing a test cell or test organism in which mRNA of the gene is degraded; and
(c) observing the phenotype of the test cell or test organism produced in (b) and, optionally, comparing the phenotype observed to that of an appropriate control cell or control organism, thereby providing information about the function of the gene. - View Dependent Claims (29, 57, 58, 59)
-
-
30. A method of examining the function of a gene in a cell or organism comprising
(a) combining double-stranded RNA that corresponds to a sequence of the gene with a soluble extract that mediates RNA interference, thereby producing a combination; -
(b) maintaining the combination produced in (a) under conditions under which the double-stranded RNA is processed to RNA of about 21 to about 23 nucleotides, whereby RNA of about 21 to about 23 nucleotides is produced;
(c) isolating RNA of about 21 to about 23 nucleotides produced in (b);
(d) introducing the RNA isolated in (c) into the cell or organism, thereby producing a test cell or test organism;
(e) maintaining the test cell or test organism under conditions under which degradation of mRNA of the gene occurs, thereby producing a test cell or test organism in which mRNA of the gene is degraded; and
(f) observing the phenotype of the test cell or test organism produced in (e) and, optionally, comparing the phenotype observed to that of an appropriate control, thereby providing information about the function of the gene. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33)
-
-
34. A composition comprising biochemical components of a Drosophila cell that process dsRNA to RNA of about 21 to about 23 nucleotides and a suitable carrier.
-
35. A composition comprising biochemical components of a cell that target mRNA of a gene to be degraded by RNA of about 21 to about 23 nucleotides.
- 36. A method of treating a disease or condition associated with the presence of a protein in an individual comprising administering to the individual RNA of from about 21 to about 23 nucleotides that targets the mRNA of the protein for degradation.
-
38. A method of assessing whether an agent acts on a gene product comprising:
-
(a) introducing RNA of from about 21 to about 23 nucleotides which targets the mRNA of the gene for degradation into a cell or organism;
(b) maintaining the cell or organism of (a) under conditions in which degradation of the mRNA occurs, (c) introducing the agent into the cell or organism of (b); and
(d) determining whether the agent has an effect on the cell or organism, wherein if the agent has no effect on the cell or organism then the agent acts on the gene product or on a biological pathway that involves the gene product. - View Dependent Claims (39, 63, 64, 65)
-
-
40. A method of assessing whether a gene product is a suitable target for drug discovery comprising:
-
(a) introducing RNA of from about 21 to about 23 nucleotides which targets the mRNA of the gene for degradation into a cell or organism;
(b) maintaining the cell or organism of (a) under conditions in which degradation of the mRNA occurs resulting in decreased expression of the gene; and
(c) determining the effect of the decreased expression of the gene on the cell or organism, wherein if decreased expression has an effect, then the gene product is a target for drug discovery. - View Dependent Claims (41, 66, 67, 68)
-
-
42. A gene identified by the sequencing of endogenous 21 to 23 nucleotide RNA molecules that mediate RNA interference.
-
43. A pharmaceutical composition comprising RNA of from about 21 to about 23 nucleotides that mediates RNA interference and an appropriate carrier.
- 44. A method of producing knockdown cells, comprising introducing into cells in which a gene is to be knocked down RNA of about 21 to about 23 nt that targets the mRNA corresponding to the gene and maintaining the resulting cells under conditions under which RNAi occurs, resulting in degradation of the mRNA of the gene, thereby producing knockdown cells.
-
46. A method of identifying target sites within mRNA that are efficiently cleaved by the RNAi process, comprising combining dsRNA corresponding to a sequence of a gene to be degraded, labeled mRNA corresponding to the gene and a soluble extract that mediates RNA interference, thereby producing a combination;
- maintaining the combination under conditions under which the dsRNA is degraded and identifying sites in the mRNA that are efficiently cleaved.
- View Dependent Claims (47)
-
72. Isolated DNA comprising DNA encoding RNA that is processed in eukaryotic cells to RNA segments of about 21 to about 23 nucleotides in length that mediate RNA interference of mRNA to which the segments correspond.
-
73. Isolated DNA comprising DNA encoding RNA that is processed in eukaryotic cells to RNA segments of about 21 to about 23 nucleotides in length that inactivate a corresponding gene by transcriptional silencing.
-
74. Isolated DNA comprising DNA encoding RNA that is processed in eukaryotic cells to RNA segments of about 21 to about 23 nucleotides in length that mediate RNA interference of mRNA of a gene.
-
75. Isolated DNA comprising DNA encoding RNA that is processed in eukaryotic cells to RNA segments of about 21 to about 23 nucleotides in length that target mRNA of a protein for degradation.
Specification