Journal of RNAi and Gene Silencing (February 2006), 2(1), 136-145

Review

RNAi and cancer: Implications and applications

Maen Abdelrahim †*, Stephen Safe †‡, Cheryl Baker ¶ and Ala Abudayyeh §

ABSTRACT

RNA interference (RNAi) is an endogenous process that regulates expression of genes and corresponding proteins to maintain homeostasis in diverse organisms. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) including both long and short ncRNAs are widely expressed and levels of some specific microRNAs are different in tumor and non-tumor tissues. RNAi has been invaluable for unraveling critical pathways involved in cancer development, growth and metastasis and has identified critical tumor-type specific gene targets for chemotherapy. In addition, the development of new derivatized small inhibitory RNAs and more efficient methods of their delivery will facilitate the future development of these ribonucleotides as cancer chemotherapeutic agents.

KEYWORDS: RNAi, siRNA, miRNA, ncRNA, cancer, oncology, VEGF

† Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M University System Health Science Center, 2121 W. Holcombe Blvd, Houston, TX 77030, USA.

‡ Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology , Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843, USA.

¶ M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando , Cancer Research Institute , Orlando, Florida 32806, USA.

§ Department of Internal Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.

*Correspondence to: Maen Abdelrahim, Email: mabdelrahim@cvm.tamu.edu, Tel: +1 713 6777671, Fax: +1 713 6777784

© Copyright Maen Abdelrahim et al

(Received 23 January 2006; Revised 06 February 2006, Accepted 07 February 2006)