RNAi Tools for Study of SARS Virus

A library of short interfering RNA (siRNA) duplexes targeted against multiple regions of the coronavirus, believed to cause severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), is designed to help researchers study the lifecycle and pathogenicity of the virus and facilitate the development of therapeutics and vaccines. Called SARS siArray Gene Set, the library is the product of Dharmacon, Inc. (Lafayette, CO, USA; www.dharmacon.com). The developers used the Toronto (Canada) SARS sequence, identifying 25 regions within the viral genome that carry the genetic information for key viral proteins that will be individually targeted with siRNA duplexes, including the 14 predicted open reading frames (ORFs).

"The SARS siArray Gene Set guarantees potent gene silencing and is priced to maximize its availability to a broad range of scientists seeking to unravel the molecular genetics of SARS pathogenesis,” said William S. Marshall, Ph.D., executive vice president of research and production at Dharmacon.

In a related development, Qiagen (Hilden, Germany) is also offering a SARS-Coronavirus siRNA Set, which allows gene silencing studies of coronavirus replication and cytopathology in mammalian cell culture. The 40 siRNA duplexes in the set were designed to target each of the 10 identified open reading frames (ORFs) of the SARS coronavirus. Regions of the ORFs were chosen that avoided known areas of sequence divergence in the genome sequences reported in GenBank. A comprehensive homology analysis was performed to ensure that there was no cross homology to known human genes, maximizing the gene-silencing potential.





Related Links:
Dharmacon
Qiagen