Can siRNA be used to prevent upregulation in gene expression? - (Jun/23/2015 )

Hello all,

I am getting a bit confused about my current experiment. I am hypothesizing that the UPREGULATION in the expression of a certain gene at a particular time is required for a certain function, rather than its usual functioning at basal level.

I have siRNA targeting this gene on hand, which will be injected in vivo. But I'm wondering, can siRNA be used to "cancel out" a new wave of mRNA produced if given a few hours before? I don't want changes in constitutive gene expression or protein levels.

Thank you!

Sakumi

-Sakumi-

the siRNA should target all sequences to which it has been targetted. In essence, it wouldn't differentiate between new wave of mRNA and the basal mRNA that is constantly being produced..so filtering between those two will be difficult, IMO.

-kedar-

Well, I understand that.

I am just wondering if it is doable to inject a modest amount of siRNA so that it can "clamp" mRNA levels, to prevent it from increasing.

-Sakumi-

I suppose you could knock down the endogenous expression while delivering an mRNA modified so it does not contain the knockdown target. The trick would be to tune the amount of mRNA delivered so that it matches the unperturbed endogenous expression level.

-Jon Moulton-