Similar seed effects in independent siRNA screens
A 2013 study on Parkin translocation used genome-wide siRNA libraries from Ambion (single Silencer Select siRNAs) and Dharmacon (pools of 4 siGENOME siRNAs).
Low hit validation rate for Dharmacon siGENOME screens
Good experimental design is important when validating hits from RNAi screens.
Pooling only 4 siRNAs increases off-target effects
Low-complexity pools (with 4 siRNAs per gene) should thus lead to overall stronger off-target effects than single siRNAs.
Citations of our Nucleic Acids Research Paper
Our 2014 Nucleic Acids Research paper provides an excellent overview of the siPOOL technology. Google Scholar shows that our paper has been cited 64 times.
Low complexity pooling does not prevent siRNA off-targets
Low-complexity siRNA pooling (e.g. Dharmacon siGENOME SMARTpools) does not prevent siRNA off-targets. It may in fact exacerbate off-target effects. Only high-complexity pooling (siPOOLs) can reliably ensure on-target phenotypes.
Correcting seed-based off-target effects in RNAi screens
Unlocking RNAi screening potential by correcting seed-based off-target effects. While seed correction methods yield minor improvements, challenges persist in interpreting strongest hits. The quest for precise reagents, like high-complexity siPOOLs, remains crucial for reliable results.
