RNAi update - Hunt for human genes involved in cell division under way

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Hunt for human genes involved in cell division under way

13 Jul 2005 Medical News Today

A systematic search through human genes has begun at the European

Molecular Biology Laboratory [EMBL] in Heidelberg, Germany. Working

within the MitoCheck consortium that includes 10 other institutes

throughout Europe, the EMBL scientists will silence all human genes,

one-by-one, to find those involved in cell division [mitosis] and to

answer fundamental questions of how cell division is regulated.

The scientists will use a method called 'RNA interference [RNAi]'

where chemically synthesized RNA molecules are used to target and

silence each human gene. About 22,000 genes will be suppressed and

their impact on cell division monitored by live cell microscopy to

understand each gene's role in cell division.

" To our knowledge, we are the first group to take on this systematic

search through the genome in live cells. We will use the most potent

RNAi reagent for this study, which is usually out of reach for

academic labs because of the enormous cost and the ever-changing

annotation of the human genome. But being part of the large EU

project MitoCheck allowed us to work with one of the leading

suppliers of siRNAs, Ambion Europe, Ltd., to produce a genome-wide

library for this project, " says Dr. Jan Ellenberg, EMBL Group Leader

and co-initiator of the MitoCheck project.

Undertaking such a large project required tens of thousands of siRNA

molecules, as two to three molecules are targeted specifically

against each human gene. EMBL chose Ambion as a supplier of the siRNA

library because its library could be tailored to the most up-to-date

list of human target genes - a list provided by the Wellcome Trust

Sanger Institute, the MitoCheck bioinformatics partner. Also,

Ambion's siRNA libraries utilize a siRNA design algorithm developed

by Cenix BioScience GmbH [an EMBL spin-off company], leading to high

efficacy of the siRNAs.

" We are happy to work with Ambion and Cenix BioScience on this

ambitious project. This represents the first use of a genome-wide

library of chemically synthesized siRNAs in academic research and

these partners have provided us with the tools to carry out this

search, " says Ellenberg. " Thousands of genes have been tested in the

initial phase of the project and the results are very promising. "

The systematic search and analysis of the screen is set to be

completed by the end of 2005. siRNAs are printed as a microarray into

a live cell imaging chamber.

http://www.embl.org