ER-targeted intrabodies mediating specific in vivo knockdown of transitory proteins in comparison to RNAi

Abstract

In animals and mammalian cells, protein function can be analyzed by nucleotide sequence-based methods such as gene knockout, targeted gene disruption, CRISPR/Cas, TALEN, zinc finger nucleases, or the RNAi technique. Alternatively, protein knockdown approaches are available based on direct interference of the target protein with the inhibitor.Among protein knockdown techniques, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) intrabodies arepotent molecules for protein knockdown in vitro and in vivo. These molecules are increasingly used for protein knockdown in living cells and transgenic mice. ER intrabody knockdown technique is based on the retention of membrane proteins and secretory proteins inside the ER, mediated by recombinant antibody fragments. In contrast to nucleotide sequence-based methods, the intrabody-mediated knockdown actsonly on the posttranslational level. In this review, the ER intrabody technology has been compared with the RNAi technique on the molecular level. The generation of intrabodies and RNAi has also been discussed. Specificity and off-target effects (OTE) of these molecules as well as the therapeutic potential of ER intrabodies and RNAi have been compared.