ABSTRACT
The ability to efficiently disrupt gene expression has become an important experimental approach for studying the biological function of a gene at the single-cell level and in intact organisms. Relevant technologies for disrupting gene expression include homologous recombination in taking advantage of natural crossover events that occur during cell division actually destroys the targeted gene and the use of reverse complementary DNA or ribonucleic acid (RNA) to interfere with utilization of the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) of the target gene. The antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) strategy relies on the introduction of short sequences of synthetic ODN into cells. The relative ease of synthesis and use of antisense ODN predict that they would be the preferred form of molecule for both research and therapeutic purposes. Briefly, genetic information is encoded by the nucleotide sequence of chromosomal DNA. This chapter suggests that much optimization will be needed before antisense DNA can be used as an effective, single-agent therapy for treating human cancers.
