Innovative Screening Method Uses RNA Interference Technology to Identify Lethal and Rescuer Genes

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. - May 16, 2013 - PRLog -- New Rochelle, May 16, 2013–Lethal and rescuer genes are defined as genes that when inactivated result in cell death or enhanced cell growth, respectively. The ability to identify these genes in large-scale automated screening campaigns could lead to the discovery of valuable new drug targets. A genome-wide lethality screen that relies on RNA interference technology and led to the validation of 239 gene candidates essential for cell survival is described in ASSAY and Drug Development Technologies, a peer-reviewed journal published from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (liebertpub.com). The article is available free on the ASSAY and Drug Development Technologies (liebertpub.com/adt) website.

A team of researchers led by Bhavneet Bhinder and Hakim Djaballah, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, present their work in the article "An Arrayed Genome-Scale Lentiviral-Enabled Short Hairpin RNA Screen Identifies Lethal and Rescuer Gene Candidates (online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/adt.2012.475)."  

The authors developed a high-stringency analysis method used to determine which genes result in cell death when they are "knocked down." Gene knockdown is achieved via an RNA interference approach, using double-stranded RNA molecules called short hairpin RNAs, or shRNAs. A shRNA binds to a target gene, blocking gene expression. The high-throughput screen is carried out in cells in 384-well microtiter plates.

About the Journal
Assay and Drug Development Technologies is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published 10 times a year in print and online. It provides early-stage screening techniques and tools that enable identification and optimization of novel targets and lead compounds for new drug development. Complete tables of content and a complementary sample issue may be viewed on the ASSAY and Drug Development Technologies (liebertpub.com/adt) website.

About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology and Genetic Testing and Molecular Biomarkers.  Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 70 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (www.liebertpub.com) website.