RNA interference mechanism uses which molecules to guide RISC to target mRNA?

RNA interference mechanism uses which molecules to guide RISC to target mRNA?

• A. Ribozymes
• B. DNA templates
• C. siRNA or miRNA
• D. Proteins

Answer: (C)

RNA interference uses small RNA guides to steer the RISC complex to the target mRNA. These guides are siRNA or miRNA, short RNA molecules that originate from longer double-stranded precursors and are loaded into RISC after processing by Dicer. Once inside RISC, the guide strand base-pairs with complementary sequences on the target mRNA, directing the Argonaute enzyme to either cleave the mRNA or block its translation. Ribozymes aren’t used as guiding sequences here, DNA templates aren’t the targeting guides, and proteins alone don’t provide the sequence-specific targeting needed. The key idea is that siRNA or miRNA are the molecules that specify which mRNA RISC will recognize and regulate.

RNA interference uses small RNA guides to steer the RISC complex to the target mRNA. These guides are siRNA or miRNA, short RNA molecules that originate from longer double-stranded precursors and are loaded into RISC after processing by Dicer. Once inside RISC, the guide strand base-pairs with complementary sequences on the target mRNA, directing the Argonaute enzyme to either cleave the mRNA or block its translation. Ribozymes aren’t used as guiding sequences here, DNA templates aren’t the targeting guides, and proteins alone don’t provide the sequence-specific targeting needed. The key idea is that siRNA or miRNA are the molecules that specify which mRNA RISC will recognize and regulate.