Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Dicer Represses Antiviral Innate Immunity Pathways In Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells, Chandan Gurung
Dicer Represses Antiviral Innate Immunity Pathways In Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells, Chandan Gurung
Dissertations
Recent studies have demonstrated that embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are deficient in expressing type I interferons (IFN), the cytokines that play key roles in antiviral responses. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms and biological implications of this finding are poorly understood. In this study, I used a synthetic RNA-based assay that can simultaneously assess multiple forms of antiviral responses in ESCs. Dicer is an enzyme essential for RNA interference (RNAi), which is used as a major antiviral mechanism in invertebrates but not clear in vertebrates. RNAi activity is detected in wild-type ESCs but is abolished in Dicer knockout ESCs (D−/−ESCs) as …