Design and Validation of Mirtron-Mediated RNA Interference for Gene Therapy.
Zheng Q., Orlans HO., Staurenghi F., McClements ME., MacLaren RE.
Mirtrons, a subclass of intronic microRNAs, offer an alternative RNA interference (RNAi) mechanism by bypassing Drosha processing. This protocol details the design and production of mirtron-based constructs aimed at achieving efficient gene knockdown. By embedding mirtrons in the 5' untranslated region (UTR) of a transgene, we evaluated processing efficiency and RNAi activity. The compact size of mirtrons facilitates concurrent gene knockdown and supplementation within a single adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector. Our findings present a novel strategy for gene regulation in therapeutic and research applications.