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Updated: Aug 20, 2026

Dual CRISPR-Interference Strategy for Targeting Synthetic Lethal Interactions Between Non-Coding RNAs in Cancer Cells
Published on: May 30, 2025
RNA interference in vivo: toward synthetic small inhibitory RNA-based therapeutics
Antonin de Fougerolles1, Muthiah Manoharan, Rachel Meyers
1Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
Abstract:
Small interfering RNA (siRNA) mediated inhibition of gene expression has rapidly become a major tool for in vitro analysis of protein function. In vivo gene silencing by siRNAs will play an important role for target validation and is the first step towards the development of siRNA-based therapeutics. This chapter reviews the early and intriguing successes in using siRNAs for in vivo gene silencing. The impact of chemical modification on siRNA efficacy in vitro and the potential for employing such modifications to alter the pharmacokinetic properties of siRNAs is also summarized. A protocol describing siRNA-based gene silencing in tumor models can serve as guide for the design of individual in vivo RNA interference experiments.
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