RNAi pathway is a biologically conserved phenomenon which regulates the expression of genes through transcriptional or post-transcriptional gene silencing mechanism. The pathway involves the network of different proteins to degrade the target mRNA and triggered by small regulatory RNAs. These small regulatory RNAs are generated via action of dicer enzyme on long double-stranded RNA or hairpin R...

The gene encoding cystatin E/M, CST6, is a Class II tumor suppressor. Using bioinformatics tools for database mining and virtual gene expression profiling, the authors showed that CST6 is differentially expressed in various types of cancer. Moreover, epigenetic silencing mediated by hypermethylation of the CpG island located at the CST6 promoter was found to be conserved in mammalian species. C...

objective(s):oct4 is a transcription factor required for pluripotency during early embryogenesis and the maintenance of identity of embryonic stem cells and pluripotent cells. therefore, the effective expression regulation of this gene is highly critical. utr regions are of great significance to gene regulation. in this study, we aimed to investigate the potential regulatory role played by 5´ut...

RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 6 (RDR6) catalyses dsRNA synthesis for post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS)-associated amplification and the generation of endogeneous siRNAs involved in developmental determinations or stress responses. The functional importance of RDR6 in PTGS led us to examine its connection to the cellular regulatory network by analyzing the hormonal responses of RDR6 gene...

Argonautes are highly conserved proteins found in almost all eukaryotes and some bacteria and archaea. In humans, there are eight argonaute proteins evenly distributed across two clades, the Ago clade (AGO1-4) and the Piwi clade (PIWIL1-4). The function of Ago proteins is best characterized by their role in RNA interference (RNAi) and cytoplasmic post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) - whi...

Post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) via RNA interference (RNAi) is a vital gene regulatory mechanism for fine-tuning gene expression. RNAi effectors termed microRNAs (miRNAs) are implicated in various aspects of animal development and normal physiological function, while dysregulation has been linked to several pathologies. Several atypical miRNA biogenesis pathways have been identified,...

Gastric Cancer (GC) is the second most common cancer in the world and a leading cause of cancer-related mortality. Methylation of promoter CpG islands (CGIs) belonging to tumor suppressor genes causes transcriptional silencing of their corresponding genes leading to carcinogenesis and other disorders. Adenomatous Polyposis Coli (APC) a tumor suppressor gene is inactivated by methylation of prom...

In plants, post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) spreads systemically, being transmitted from the silenced stock to the scion expressing the corresponding transgene. It has been reported that a graft-transmitted siRNA signal can also induce PTGS of an endogenous gene, but this was done by top-grafting using silenced stock. In the present study involving grafting of Nicotiana benthamiana, w...

The LTR-retrotransposon MAGGY was introduced into naive genomes of Magnaporthe oryzae with different genetic backgrounds (wild-type, and MoDcl1 [mdl1] and MoDcl2 [mdl2] dicer mutants). The MoDcl2 mutants deficient in MAGGY siRNA biogenesis generally showed greater MAGGY mRNA accumulation and more rapid increase in MAGGY copy number than did the wild-type and MoDcl1 mutants exhibiting normal MAG...