Review Article - Journal of RNA and Genomics (2017) Volume 13, Issue 1

Intramyocardial Gene Silencing by Interfering RNA

RNAi is a widely used methodology for gene silencing. The action mechanism of siRNA molecules has been well studied in recent years, and the technique has been optimized in terms of safety and effectiveness. Cardiovascular diseases have a high incidence in the current population, and despite of the extensive research, safe and efficient therapeutics have not yet been found, which is reflected by 17.1 million people who die each year for this cause. In this context, siRNAs are being considered a therapeutic tool to regulate the expression of genes involved in the generation of these pathologies. The efficacy of siRNAs entry to cardiomyocytes, the safety of the delivery process and the degree of silencing achieved are main aspects before consider it as a cardiovascular disease therapy. Presently, we will give a brief outline of the current understanding of the RNAi mechanism and the delivery system to the heart. We describe the use of lentivirus for a functional silencing of cardiac proteins in the study of a pathophysiological process, the slow force response to cardiac stretch.

Author(s): María Soledad Brea, Patricio Eduardo Morgan and Néstor Gustavo Pérez

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