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Abstract
It is well established that 20- to 30-nt small RNAs, including small interfering RNAs,
microRNAs and Piwi-interacting RNAs, play crucial roles in regulating gene expression
and control a surprisingly diverse array of biological processes. These small RNAs
cannot work alone: they must form effector ribonucleoprotein complexes - RNA-induced
silencing complexes (RISCs) - to exert their function. Thus, RISC assembly is a key
process in small RNA-mediated silencing. Recent biochemical analyses of RISC assembly,
together with new structural studies of Argonaute, the core protein component of RISC,
suggest a revised view of how mature RISC, which contains single-stranded guide RNA,
is built from small RNAs that are born double-stranded.
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