Thursday, February 18, 2010

i-Fect and More Knockdown Success

Neuromics' Customers have published their success using i-FectTM for gene expression studies Genes studied include: DOR, hTERT, The β3 subunit of the Na+,K+-ATPase, rSNSR1, NTS1. NAV1.8 and more.

We are now pleased to add knockdown L Calcium Channel Subtypes to study differential effects of neuropathic pain.

In this study researchers showed specific knockdown of CaV1.2 in the spinal dorsal horn reversed the neuropathy-associated mechanical hypersensitivity and the hyperexcitability and increased responsiveness of dorsal horn neurons. Intrathecal application of anti-CaV1.2 siRNAs confirmed the preceding results.

Here's a link to the related pub: Pascal Fossat, Eric Dobremez, Rabia Bouali-Benazzouz, Alexandre Favereaux, Sandrine S. Bertrand, Kalle Kilk, Claire Léger, Jean-René Cazalets, Ülo Langel, Marc Landry and Frédéric Nagy. Knockdown of L Calcium Channel Subtypes: Differential Effects in Neuropathic Pain. The Journal of Neuroscience, January 20, 2010, 30(3):1073-1085; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3145-09.2010

We used siRNA targeting several splice variants of CaV1.2 ("Silencer Select Pre-designed and Validated siRNA", Ambion). They consisted of a pool of two 21 nt duplex. siRNAs were selected to target two distinct CaV1.2 mRNA regions to enhance silencing. The antisense sequences were as follows: UCUAUUGUCAUAUCGCAGG and UAUCCGAACAGGUAUAGAG.

In contrast to PNA, these siRNAs targeted the 5'-coding region. Mismatch siRNA was a nontargeting 21 nt duplex designed as a negative control. The siRNAs (2 µg) were solubilized in 10 µl of reagent i-Fect (Neuromics) following Neuromics instructions and published protocol (Luo et al., 2005), and applied intrathecally according to the same protocol as for the PNA.