11187 IUPAC Gold Book - RNA interference 10.1351/goldbook.11187 11187 current initialism: RNAi mentioned: siRNA 1 Effect of small, often double-stranded RNA targeting a specific messenger RNA (mRNA), blocking its translation, and thereby silencing expression of the corresponding gene. Cells produce two types of small RNA, microRNA (miRNA) and small interfering RNA (siRNA), that are both involved in the regulation of gene expression. As an experimental technique, RNAi uses designed sequences to silence a gene of interest. Short hairpin RNAs (shRNA) are sequences, designed for improved effect in RNAi experiments, that have a base-paired stem representing the double-stranded portion and an intervening unpaired loop. PAC, 2016, 88, 713. 'Glossary of terms used in developmental and reproductive toxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2016)' on page 801 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2015-1202) https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11187/html https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11187/json https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11187/plain Citation: 'RNA interference' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.11187 The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms. If you are interested in licensing the Gold Book for commercial use, please contact the IUPAC Executive Director at executivedirector@iupac.org . The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using. 2026-07-16T01:22:42+00:00