Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 20, 2026

MicroRNA-based Regulation of Picornavirus Tropism
Published on: February 6, 2017
Native microRNA loop sequences can improve short hairpin RNA processing for virus gene silencing in animal cells
Tracey M Hinton1, Terry G Wise, Pauline A Cottee
1CSIRO Livestock Industries, Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Geelong 3220, Australia.
Abstract:
Introduction of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) into cells results in transitory silencing of target genes with complementary sequence. Incorporating siRNAs into short-hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) or microRNA-adapted shRNAs (shRNAmir) is a popular tool for targeted gene silencing. shRNAmirs mimicking endogenous pre-microRNAs (unprocessed hairpin microRNAs) are more difficult to design and result in longer RNA molecules. The use of microRNA (miRNA) loop sequences in shRNAs as an alternative to an entire pre-microRNA structure on silencing efficiency has not been studied extensively. This report shows that loop sequences derived from native miRNAs improves the efficiency of silencing due to the processing of the shRNAs into mature siRNAs.
Related Concept Videos
Experimental RNAi
MicroRNAs
MicroRNAs
MicroRNAs
siRNA - Small Interfering RNAs
In the cytoplasm, siRNA is processed from a double-stranded RNA, which comes from either endogenous DNA transcription or exogenous sources like a virus. This double-stranded RNA is then cleaved by the ATP-dependent...
RNA Interference
This process occurs naturally in cells, often through the activity of genomically-encoded microRNAs. Researchers can take advantage of this mechanism by introducing synthetic RNAs to deactivate specific genes for research or therapeutic purposes. For example, RNAi could be used...

