RNA interference as a potential therapeutic treatment for inflammation associated lung injury

Acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remain important sources of morbidity for patients in the ICUs in the developed world. However, imagine having as a therapeutic tool, the ability to regulate, in a tissue specific manner, the expression of a given gene. RNA interference, as potentially such a method of selectively suppressing protein expression, has evolved as an important tool in the study of gene specific function and targeted therapeutics. Significant progress has been made in identifying potential gene targets integral to the pathways leading to the development of inflammation-associated lung injury. This review will discuss the progress, thus far, in the application of in vivo RNA interference-based gene therapy in the investigation of inflammation-associated lung injury.