Abstract
In the past few years, the discovery of RNA-mediated gene
silencing mechanisms, like RNA interference (RNAi), has
revolutionized our understanding of eukaryotic gene expression.
These mechanisms are activated by double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) and
mediate gene silencing either by inducing the sequence-specific
degradation of complementary mRNA or by inhibiting mRNA
translation. RNAi now provides a powerful experimental tool to
elucidate gene function in vitro and in vivo, thereby opening new
exciting perspectives in the fields of molecular analysis and
eventually therapy of several diseases such as infections and
cancer. In hematology, numerous studies have described the
successful application of RNAi to better define the role of
oncogenic fusion proteins in leukemogenesis and to explore
therapeutic approaches in hematological malignancies. In this
review, we highlight recent advances and caveats relating to the
application of this powerful new methodology to hematopoiesis.