Therapeutic Applications of Ribozymes

Book excerpt: In Therapeutic Applications of Ribozymes, expert laboratory scientists describe in detail their methodologies for constructing ribozymes designed to elucidate the role of specific genes as key routes to the development of novel therapies for a wide variety of diseases. The authors review the many sites targeted with ribozymes in various diseases and provide specific accounts of the practical techniques required for the proper use of ribozymes in these systems. Their cutting-edge protocols demonstrate how to achieve ribozyme expression in distinct cellular systems, the preparation and use of high-efficiency ribozyme DNA or RNA delivery, and the studies required to prove the efficacy of ribozyme-mediated inhibition, with its concomitant effect on phenotypic parameters. Therapeutic Applications of Ribozymes contains all the practical detail necessary to realize the high promise of ribozyme technology as a significant, widely used methodology. Focused on ribozyme targets and the novel associated technology, the book immediately becomes the leading resource for all those seeking to transform this new category of therapeutic agent into efficacious clinical practice.