Gene silencing describes the epigenetic regulation of a gene, at the level of transcription or translation, to prevent gene expression. Mechanisms include DNA methylation, histone modification and ...
This promiscuous binding activity means that miRNA can act on many different mRNAs, potentially silencing hundreds of genes simultaneously. In contrast, when RNAi is guided by siRNA, the entire ...
A critical component in this process is the formation of R-loops—open DNA structures where RNA binds, signaling the system to initiate gene silencing. "The 'R' in R-loop stands for RNA.