Part of the book: Advances in Cancer Therapy
RNA interference (RNAi), mediated by short interfering RNA (siRNA), vector-derived short hairpin RNA (shRNA) and microRNA (miRNA), brings about revolutionary features to basic biomedical research and clinical application. New drugs based on RNAi have been developed for therapeutic applications. The family of RNAi molecules are efficient agents to modulate mammalian immune system, and many studies reported that these molecules could manipulate immune defence, surveillance and homeostasis. Both perfect match of siRNA/shRNA and non-perfect match of miRNA could be beneficial for designing RNAi-based drugs for treatment of tumour and viral infection. This chapter provides a view to control or utilize the immune regulation of various small RNAs that should help researchers to understand the successful clinical application of RNAi.
Part of the book: RNA Interference