Learn more at http://www.lifetechnologies.com/sirna
Dr. Gavin Robertson describes how Ambion Silencer® Select siRNA technology is advancing melanoma research
I'm Gavin Robertson, professor of pharmacology, pathology, dermatology and surgery, and director of the Penn State Melanoma Center.
Describe your research focus
we focus on cancer. We're developing therapies for cancer. So we identify the targets, validate the targets and then see whether we can identify targets that will synergize with one another. And finally try to design therapies that will inhibit those targets so that we can better treat cancer patients.
How are you using RNAi technology in your research?
RNAi technology's very exciting. It's a very very powerful way of controlling the expression of genes. So by controlling the expression of genes, you can measure and see their activity and their biological roles in cancer.
And so the SRNA's actually very useful for knocking down gene expression for a prolonged period of time. And so it can be used in both cultured cells and for animal studies.
We use SIRNA libraries and we've purchased a number of SIRNA libraries from Life Technologies that have been useful for us to identify new targets. And these are targets the affect the ability of cancer cells to proliferate and to go controlled cell death. Or to regulate vessel development, regulate the ability to form tumors, to move around the body, to metastasize.
it's led us to identify some of the major targets that are considered to be key in terms of therapy development for melanoma patients.
We also do a lot of our screens using RNAi max. It's a liposomal-based way of getting the SIRNA into cells. It works very well, works nicely, very reproducible. And can give good results very quickly.
What made you choose Ambion® Silencer® Select siRNAs
by Life Technologies?
we've found with Life Technology's SIRNA is that you can actually put it into cells and that if you can see knockdown - and we've published on this - if you can see knockdown for up to 8 to 10 days, this can be used for transient assays in animals. What this means is you can put the SIRNA into those cells and inject them into animals, and see the effect on tumor development, you can see the effect on metastases or invasion around the body, and not really have to create stable cell lines. So this is really significant because you can dissect an entire pathway very quickly using this technology, and where this would take months or years you can do this in a series of weeks. So it can significantly advance research and jump how fast you can get your experiments done.
A scientist generally feels very very proud when they go to a national meeting, and you're at a plannery session and you hear your work cited as how it's important, and how the targets that you've identified and perhaps validated with Life Technology's products, really are key to the field. And that this will be part of the target that, as drugs are developed, that will lead to better treatments for patients. And this particular target validated again with Life Technology's agents is key. So that makes you very proud. It's cool to see your work recognized in that way.
For more information on Ambion® Silencer® Select siRNA visit lifetechnologies.com/siRNA
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