Web Wednesday: RNAi Select

Following up on a recent post--breaking paper on dsRNA design--here's the link to the tool reported in the paper.

http://www.rnaiselect.info/dsrna/

Breaking Report: piRNAs

On my desk to read today? A report on the RNA biology of piRNAs, that includes work using dsRNA-based knockdown of piwi in cultured cells.

Haase et al. (2010) Probing the initiation and effector phases of the somatic piRNA pathway in Drosophila. Genes Dev. 2010 Oct 21. [Epub ahead of print]

Breaking Report: Limiting Off-Target Effects

Also on my desk today? An informatics analysis and tool for further limiting potential off-target effects in dsRNA design.

Seinen et al. (2010) RNAi Experiments in D. melanogaster: Solutions to the Overlooked Problem of Off-Targets Shared by Independent dsRNAs. PLoS One. 2010 Oct 1;5(10). pii: e13119.

Breaking Report: DRSC screen for modifiers of Notch transcriptional activity

On my desk today? A report of a screen performed using the DRSC full-genome library.

Mourikis et al. (2010) Modifiers of notch transcriptional activity identified by genome-wide RNAi. BMC Developmental Biology. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-213X/10/107

Breaking Report: Myc study points to dHCF

Also on my desk today? Another cell-based RNAi screen report, this one looking at activation of Myc target genes.

Furrer et al. (2010) Drosophila Myc interacts with Host Cell Factor (dHCF) to activate transcription and control growth. J Biol Chem. 2010 Oct 11. [Epub ahead of print]

Breaking Report: Splicing mapk

What's on my desk to read today? A breaking report by Ashton-Beaucage et al. that includes cell-based RNAi screening and in vivo RNAi screening as follow-up.

Ashton-Beaucage et al. (2010) The exon junction complex controls the splicing of MAPK and other long intron-containing transcripts in Drosophila. Cell. 2010 Oct 15;143(2):251-62.

Recent Review: miRNAs & Cancer

What's on my desk to read today? A recent review on miRNAs and cancer.

This review is not directly relevant to using RNAi for screens, of course. But Fig. 4 is a nice summary of tools for disrupting miRNAs. And I like to try to keep up with aspects of RNA biology, as understanding RNA biology is interlinked with exploiting it as a research tool.

Garzon et al. (2010) Targeting microRNAs in cancer: rationale, strategies and challenges. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 9: 775-789. Available FREE.

Breaking Report: Flight

On my desk today? A new report on the Flight database.

Sims et al. (2010) The flight Drosophila RNAi database: 2010 update. Fly (Austin). 2010 Oct 10;4(4).