Studies have shown that using high concentrations of siRNA during transfection can cause non-specific off-target effects. To increase the reliability of experimental data, it is advisable to use as little siRNA as possible. INTERFERin® has been specifically designed to provide high silencing efficiency using low siRNA concentrations. By using only 1 nM of a specific siRNA, INTERFERin® can achieve highly efficient and selective knockdown of gene expression.
A competitor (L2K) requires at least 10 nM siRNA to achieve 50% silencing efficiency. The transfection of microRNA (miRNA) oligonucleotides is becoming increasingly popular for analyzing the biological effects of specific miRNAs on cell function. INTERFERin® is the preferred reagent for delivering miRNA, miRNA mimics, or pre-miRNAs. This latest generation siRNA and miRNA transfection reagent is designed for high transfection efficiency in a wide variety of cells, resulting in increased gene silencing or stimulation of gene expression. Specific miRNAs are known to induce gene expression by associating with the promoter of the gene of interest. For example, INTERFERin®-mediated delivery of miR-373 leads to a 3-fold increase in E-Cadherin expression.
In most adherent cell lines or primary cells, 1 nM siRNA is sufficient to achieve over 90% gene silencing. 5 nM siRNA can reach 80% silencing for suspension cell lines using INTERFERin®. In terms of cell viability, INTERFERin® outperforms other transfection reagents. Cells transfected with INTERFERin® at a concentration of 1 nM siRNA appear healthy 48 hours after transfection, whereas toxicity is observed with other reagents, such as reagent S.