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Updated: May 13, 2026
siRNA Screening to Identify Ubiquitin and Ubiquitin-like System Regulators of Biological Pathways in Cultured Mammalian Cells
Published on: May 24, 2014
High-content siRNA screening for target identification and validation
Eberhard Krausz1, Kerstin Korn
1Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG), HT-Technology Development Studio (TDS), Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, D-01307 Dresden, Germany +49 351 210 2918 ; +49 351 210 1609 ; korn@mpi-cbg.de.
Background:
Automated microscopy and image analysis have progressed tremendously over the past 10 years and opened up a new era of high-content screening. In parallel, RNA interference (RNAi) has revolutionized the functional analysis of genes.
Objective:
The focus of this review is screening of RNAi libraries, and in particular in screening of short interfering RNA (siRNA) libraries for target identification and validation in mammalian cell systems.
Methods:
Recent literature of high-content siRNA screening in oncology, in intracellular trafficking and infection biology, and in neurobiology is reviewed and placed in the context of a discussion on hit verification.
Results/Conclusion:
Various methods have been established for the application of RNAi in mammalian cells also, which allows efficient and reproducible silencing of individual genes to gain functional information on each individual gene. Complex multi-parametric cell-based assays, combined with both technologies, provide an extraordinary valuable tool to help understand biological and pathological processes in a systematic way and discover new targets for pharmaceutical exploitation.
