Enhanced Silencing Longevity of siRNA

A proprietary form of small interfering RNA (siRNA) called siStable siRNA has been modified to significantly enhance stability, potency, and silencing longevity while decreasing cellular toxicity.

In comparative cell culture studies, siStable siRNA maintains full silencing potency after seven days. In human serum, where nucleases break down unmodified siRNA, siStable siRNA half-life is increased more than 500-fold from minutes to over 85 hours. The siStable siRNA modifications also alter siRNA processing within the cell, increasing gene silencing potency and specificity. These data were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology in San Francisco (CA, USA).

To develop siStable siRNA, scientists at Dharmacon, Inc. (Lafayette, CO, USA) chemically modified the siRNA strands in a novel and proprietary manner. The new product builds on previous modifications contained in Dharmacon's On-Target siRNA that inactivate the siRNA sense strand, completely eliminating its potential role in causing off-target silencing. Microarray gene expression analysis studies to date have shown no cellular toxicity from use of siStable siRNA.

"We are committed to working with life science researchers to make the potential advantages of RNAi widely available for an increasing range of biomedical applications,” said Stephen A. Scaringe, Ph.D., co-chairman and chief scientific officer at Dharmacon.




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