RDE-1 slicer activity is required only for passenger-strand cleavage during RNAi in Caenorhabditis elegans.

F.A. Steiner, K.L. Okihara, S.W. Hoogstrate, T. Sijen, R.F. Ketting

Research output: Contribution to journal/periodicalArticleScientificpeer-review

55 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

RNA interference (RNAi) is a process in which double-stranded RNA is cleaved into small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) that induce the destruction of homologous single-stranded mRNAs. Argonaute proteins are essential components of this silencing process; they bind siRNAs directly and can cleave RNA targets using a conserved RNase H motif. In Caenorhabditis elegans, the Argonaute protein RDE-1 has a central role in RNAi. In animals lacking RDE-1, the introduction of double-stranded RNA does not trigger any detectable level of RNAi. Here we show that RNase H activity of RDE-1 is required only for efficient removal of the passenger strand of the siRNA duplex and not for triggering the silencing response at the target-mRNA level. These results uncouple the role of the RDE-1 RNase H activity in small RNA maturation from its role in target-mRNA silencing in vivo.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)207-211
JournalNature Structural & Molecular Biology
Volume16
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2009

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