Argonaute appears to open into a chaperone-held state so a small RNA can load. That RNA then helps the protein fold into its active gene-silencing form, but only if key features are preserved.
RNA therapeutics have emerged as one of the most promising new classes of medicines. Eight small interfering RNA (siRNA) drugs have already been approved worldwide for the treatment of genetic diseases, yet scientists have not fully understood one of the most fundamental steps underlying their function: how Argonaute, the core protein responsible for gene silencing, becomes activated.
