RNA interference screening for the discovery of oncology targets

Abstract

RNA interference (RNAi) mediated loss-of-function screens have the potential to delineate biological functions of genes and the proteins they encode. RNAi has proven to be a promising technology for identification and validation of new targets for the pharmacological treatment of many diseases including cancer. Here we review the use of high-throughput RNAi screens, examine the types of targets pursued for oncology indications, and discuss the integration of diverse datasets in both target discovery and drug discovery programs.

Keywords::

• cancer
• high-throughput screen
• oncology
• RNA interference
• synthetic lethal
• target discovery
• therapeutic RNAi