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RNA-induced silencing complexRNA-induced silencing complex, or RISC, is a multi-protein siRNA complex which cleaves (incoming viral) dsRNA and binds short antisense RNA strands which are then able to bind complementary strands. When it finds the complementary strand, it activates RNAse activity and cleaves the RNA. This process is important both in gene regulation by micro-RNAs and in defense against viral infections, which often use double-stranded RNA as an infectious vector. Additional recommended knowledgeStrandsThe RNA endonuclease Dicer plays a role in aiding RISC action by providing the initial RNA material to activate the complex as well as the first RNA substrate molecule. When Dicer, which has endonuclease activity against dsRNA and pre-miRNAs, cleaves a pre-miRNA stem-loop or a dsRNA, a 20-25 base pair double-stranded RNA fragment is formed with a 2 nucleotide 3' overhang at each end.[1][2]
BindingThe RISC complex with a bound siRNA recognizes complementary messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules and degrades them, resulting in substantially decreased levels of protein translation and effectively turning off the gene. It is as yet unclear how the activated RISC complex locates the mRNA targets in the cell, though it has been shown that the process is not coupled to ongoing protein translation from the mRNA.[5] Endogenously expressed miRNA is usually imperfectly complementary to a large number of nuclear genes and has a modulating effect on these genes' levels of expression via translational repression.[6] References
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "RNA-induced_silencing_complex". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia. |