shRNA Plasmid Expression Vector

What is shRNA?

siRNA is a double-stranded RNA containing 21 nucleotides (nt), with high sequence specificity. After cell transfection, siRNA can trigger rapid degradation of the corresponding mRNA in a short duration. shRNA (short hairpin RNA) is an RNA sequence of tight hairpin loop, including two short reverse repeats and a loop region connecting the two repeats. shRNA can be cloned into a plasmid vector as a "short hairpin" structure. After plasmid insertion, hairpin sequence is expressed to form double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) and enters the RNAi pathway to achieve gene silencing. The final goal of gene silencing is achieved through the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway. The expression of shRNA in cells can be achieved in vitro by transferring plasmids, viral or bacterial vectors. Among these vectors, virus-infected cells contain high efficiency in vivo, which solves the problem of low plasmid transfection efficiency for certain cell types (including primary cells and less dividing cells).

Fig.1 Differences in siRNA(left) and shRNA(right) mediated RNA interference pathways. ( Rao D, 2009)

Advantages of shRNA

• shRNA is more stable, persistent and efficient than siRNAs.
• shRNA can select promoters to control shRNA expression.
• shRNA can co-express with reporter genes and reduce off-target effects.
• For gene expression products with long half-lives, shRNA is the only choice.

Construction Services for siRNA Vectors from BOC Sicences

• Plasmid expression vector package

Design and prepare 4 shRNA vectors for the target genes, ensuring that at least one shRNAs has a suppression efficiency of 70% or more at the mRNA level.

• shRNA expression clone construction service

We can insert the DNA encoding your target shRNA into the plasmid and perform sequence correctness testing. Simply inform us the target gene sequence or Gene ID number, and name of the vector you want to insert (such as pRS, pGFP-V-RS or pRFP-C-RS) for modeling. Nevertheless, we provide enough usable, purified expression plasmids to encode your target shRNA.

• High Purity Plasmid Extraction

After cloning siRNA fragments into target expression vectors, customers need to prepare a large number of high-purity or endotoxin-free plasmids for the next experiment. BOC Sciences offers a service for the preparation of high-purity plasmids.

Service requirements:

1) Provide plasmids to be prepared (>20 ng).

2) Plasmid resistance and macrorestriction map.

Highlights of shRNA Plasmid Expression Vector form BOC Sicences

• Strong inhibitory effect in vivo. The inhibitory effect of shRNA expression vector in vivo is upregulated than ordinary synthetic siRNA, and it can cooperate with tissue-specific localization promoters.
• Easy enrichment of transfected cells: Antibiotic resistance can be attached to the vector to screen untransfected cells and easily enrich cells with silencing potential.
• Long-term effectiveness of interference: shRNA expression vectors help researchers obtain stable cell lines and ensure long-term RNA interference.
• Favorable price: The reproducible nature of shRNA expression vectors reduces the cost of their high-throughput applications, meeting the high demand of siRNA customers.
• Can be used for gene therapy: shRNAs constructed on viral vectors can be applied to infected gene therapy core cell lines.