Mirus Bio Announces RNAi Tool to Analyze Gene Function

Mirus Bio Corporation has announced the development of a method to analyze gene function in vivo.

The technique utilizes the company's proprietary hydrodynamic injection technology to efficiently introduce a type of nucleic acid known as a small interfering RNA to the liver of animal models, resulting in the suppression of target gene activity.

Researchers can employ this tool to decipher the function of genes by studying the biological and physiological impact of a change in gene expression, which is useful in the identification of therapeutic drug targets.

This tool will be of interest to researchers engaged in studying metabolic diseases, toxicology, liver cancer, and other related fields.

Protocols are also available to study gene expression and/or suppression in other tissues.

This technique is described in detail in the August 31, 2006 Advanced Access service of the journal Nucleic Acids Research. 

The publication entitled "Transcriptional and phenotypic comparisons of Ppara knockout and siRNA knockdown mice" resulted from a collaboration between a research group at Rosetta Inpharmatics (a wholly owned subsidiary of Merck & Co.) led by Dr. Peter S. Linsley and the group at Mirus Bio led by Dr. David L. Lewis.

The team utilized siRNA to suppress Ppara, an endogenous gene involved in regulating fatty acid metabolism, and demonstrated that the technique caused molecular and phenotypic changes that were highly comparable to those which occur in knockout mice.

The conventional method of doing in vivo genetic analysis is to utilize "knockout" animals, which are animals which have been genetically engineered from birth to lack a gene necessary for production of a protein of interest.

"This represents an exciting new component of our expanding portfolio of in vivo and in vitro discovery research tools for use in key target cells and tissues," notes James Hagstrom, PhD, Vice President of Scientific Operations and one of Mirus Bio's co-founders.

"Together with our labeling chemistries, our products are highly valued by investigators pursuing genetic research in diseases of liver, joint and skeletal muscle."