Mount Sinai researchers discover technology that silences genes

August 18, 2008

Suppressing disease-causing genes is now within reach

Mount Sinai researchers have developed a new gene silencing

technology that could be used to target genes that can lead to the

development of certain diseases. This technology could pave the way

for preventing diseases where gene dysfunction plays a role. The

groundbreaking research was led by Ming-Ming Zhou, Ph.D., Professor

and Chairman of the Department of Structural and Chemical Biology at

Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The findings, which will be published

in the September issue of Nature Cell Biology, are available on the

magazine's web site as of today.

" By being able to silence certain genes, we may be able to suppress

genes that can cause diseases such as HIV/AIDS, cancer, inflammation

and diseases of the central and peripheral nervous systems. We now

know we can focus on these genes and potentially change the ultimate

course of many diseases that have a major impact on people's lives, "

says Dr. Zhou.

In the study, Dr. Zhou, Shiraz Mujtaba, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of

Structural and Chemical Biology at Mount Sinai and their colleagues

discovered that Paramecium bursaria chlorella virus uses a viral

protein to modify host DNA packing chromatin and switch host

transcription machinery for viral replication. Based on this finding,

researchers were able to develop a new gene targeting technology that

effectively suppresses transcriptional expression of targeted genes

in human cells, including genes that are linked to the onset of a

number of diseases.

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