Small Interfering RNA

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Encyclopedia of Systems Biology
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Small interfering RNAs are short 19–25-nucleotide long double-stranded RNA molecules that are endogenously generated by processing natural or synthetic precursors. Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) can associate with the multiprotein complex RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) which separates the two strands of the siRNA and retains one of them. The RISC-incorporated strand of siRNA then associates with complementary mRNA sequences in the cytoplasm and mediates degradation of the mRNA.

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Correspondence to Melissa L. Kemp .

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Kemp, M.L. (2013). Small Interfering RNA. In: Dubitzky, W., Wolkenhauer, O., Cho, KH., Yokota, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Systems Biology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9863-7_1249

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