Wikipedia:United States Education Program/Courses/JHU MolBio Ogg 2012/Section 81/Group 81F

Group 81F

This is the Wikipedia page for 410.602 Molecular Biology, 2012, group 81F. This group will be editing the Stable nucleic acid lipid particle article.

Use the talk page here to collaborate as a group, when learning to use and navigate Wikipedia, assessing articles, or for any other topic.

Use this page (not the talk page) for article assessments (optional, see Unit 5); rationale for selecting an article (Unit 6); progress reports (Units 9 and 12); and the final report (Unit 14). Please create a new section here for each of those assignments.

Initial Assessment

Wikipedia's article on dnaI contains no significant information other than its involvement in DNA replication. There are no references cited to confirm the information stated in the article. The article is listed as low-importance and of stub-class quality.

Wikipedia's article on the telomere contains information on the history, function, and applications in biology. The article has twenty eight references and numerous links to further readings. The sections within the article are well structured and cited. The article is listed as mid-importance and of C-class quality.

Unit 6 Article Selection Rationale

Group 81F has chosen Wikipedia’s article on Stable Nucleic Acid Lipid Particles (SNALPs).

SNALPs are important lipid nanoparticles which aid in the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway. They are specifically known to assist small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules in gene silencing through in vivo delivery.

Wikipedia’s article on SNALPs is rated as low importance meaning that it is a rare subject only known to specialized researcher. The article is also rated as a start class implying that it contains a good amount of information but weak in some areas. Additionally, the article requires to be cleaned up to meet Wikipedia’s quality standards. Currently, the article is broken up into two categories: immunostimulation and applications. Immunostimulation discusses methods to prevent SNALPs from being exposed to Toll-like receptors which can lead to systemic inflammation and interferon protein formation; while applications discuss the treatment of Ebola virus in rhesus macaque. The article lacks vital information and can be expanded in regards to the details behind the SNALP-mediated delivery mechanism; as well as, its known applications to the Ebola virus in guinea pigs and hepatocellular carcinoma in humans and mice.

A previously cited article written by J.J. Rossi contains a great visual (fig.1) that will enrich SNALP’s mechanistic understanding of how it silences disease-encoding genes. An article written by Geisbert et al confirms complete protection against viremia and death in guinea pigs when administered a SNALP-siRNA delivery system after diagnosis of the Ebola virus, thus proving this technology to be an effective treatment. Another article written by Lee et al concludes that SNALPs significantly reduced hepatocellular carcinoma tumor growth in human Huh7-luc* cells through therapeutic silencing. Lastly, a poster by Toudjarska et al confirms prolonged survival rates of immunocompromised mice implanted with human heptoma cells. This particular source also includes a number of informational graphics which help understand the relationships between SNALP-siRNA delivery systems and tumor growth. By including this additional information to Wikipedia’s article on SNALPs, the scientific community will better understand the use of these nanoparticles.

Listed below are the three references which can used to further enhance Wikipedia’s article on SNALPs:

Unit 9 Progress Report

Group 81F has improved Wikipedia’s article on Stable Nucleic Acid Lipid Particles (SNALPs) in a number of ways. Firstly, the addition of a References section was made to categorize the listed references according to Wikipedia’s standards. Although references were placed previously at the bottom, lack of a designated section did not set them apart from other information included in the article. Additional organizational sections were created, too, including See Also, Further Reading, and External Links sections.

Secondly, figure one of J.J. Rossi’s article (ref: 1) was added to the introductory section to help readers understand and visualize the in vivo delivery system of siRNAs using SNALPs. However the addition of this figure got the attention of Fut.Perf. who stated that the image was in violation of Wikipedia’s “first non-free content criterion in that it illustrates a subject for which a freely licensed media item could be found or created that provides substantially the same information or which could be adequately covered with text alone.” Therefore, we has decided to sketch the structural components for which a SNALP is made using InkScape, an open sourced graphics editor. This image is intended to aid in the reader's visualization of the structural components for which a lipid nanoparticle is made.

A third improvement involves the addition of multiple links within the SNALPs article, such as a link to the RNAi pathway, siRNA, mRNA and RNA-induced silencing complex Wikipedia articles to provide the readers with a broader understanding of this particular topic. Other links include Toll-like receptors, polyethyleneglycol, fusogenic and cationic lipids.

In addition to the above improvements, substantive background information has been added describing generally use of siRNA in RNAi therapy and how SNALPs help to increase the efficacy of this therapy. Specifically, the components of SNALPs were detailed, which included the composition of the lipid bilayer and other constituents, such as PEG. Also, some detail as to how SNALPs increase stability of siRNA in vivo was provided.

Moving forward, we will be adding substantial content to the Applications section of the article, which will include research in increasing siRNA potency, increasing siRNA stability and reducing immune system response to siRNA therapy utilizing the SNALP delivery system. We will also be adding illustrations, as appropriate, in order to provide additional visuals for readers and otherwise make the article more appealing. Lastly, an outline will be included showing hallmarks with use of SNALPs in delivery of siRNA.

Unit 12 Progress Report

We've added an additional section discussing the development of SNALPs as a delivery system of siRNA. This is a relatively "new" delivery system for RNAi therapy, 2005 being a key year in its development. Though not complete, this section will track the development of SNALPs from the initial studies showing that it does stabilize siRNA to studies demonstrating increasing potency resulting from modifications to the siRNA, the SNALPs delivery system itself, etc. A recent article suggests the possibility of formulating a SNALP of only 30nm, which is substantially smaller than the 140nm "normal" size.

In addition to this new section, we've further developed the Applications section to include an additional SNALP treatment to the Zaire Ebola Virus (ZEBOV) found among guinea pigs. We've included detailed information such as the composition of the SNALP used as well as its viral target. We plan to expand this section in the coming weeks by adding an additional subheading titled ‘Hepatocellular Carcinoma’ to include SNALP applications to Hepatocellular Carcinoma in humans and mice. Additionally, we will continue to expand the article to highlight specific applications of SNALPs in delivering RNAi therapy. We will try to include more visuals as appropriate.

• Peer-review for Robert White (Uplifted1): I have reviewed group 81A's progress on their Endonuclease article and suggested a few changes/corrections be made. For example, I've indicated a couple of grammatical errors, including both misspelled words and improper sentence formation. In addition, I've suggested some organizational changes in order to make the article more user friendly. Specifically, I mentioned creating subheadings for Type I, Type II and Type III endonucleases so that information pertaining to one can be found more readily. Another correction discussed involved proper use of citations, not only within the body of the article but also within the References section. I'll continue to monitor their progress. So far, things look alright.

• Peer-review for Shan Sabri (ShanSabri): I have posted a critique to group 81A’s talk page describing improvements and progress made on their assigned Endonuclease article. Specifically I noted that the inclusion of images would greatly help the article in its appeal to the reader. I asked to consider the addition of a PDB crystallographic image which I believe would help aid in the reader’s understanding of an endonuclease’s structure. I’ve also brought up the idea of using Wikipedia’s article on restriction enzymes as a template as this particular page includes subheadings that are applicable to endonucleases. The addition of an ‘Applications’ subheading may help the group in formulating the roles that endonucleases play in recombinant DNA technology and DNA repair. I’ve also noted to the group the use of ‘ibid’ citations listed in the ‘References’ subheading which is usually discouraged in the Wikipedia world as the links can be easily broken. Lastly, I’ve assured the group not to be shy in editing an established article since there are plenty of editors who overlook the work being done. I’m anxious to see the group’s progress in the coming weeks.

Final Progress Report

This is our final progress report for the SNALPs Wikipedia article. Significant changes have been made to this article throughout the semester. Certainly, there's more work to be done and, if time permits, we'll continue to add material in the future. As for now, Introduction and Development of SNALP Delivery System sections have been added detailing the purpose of SNALPs in protecting siRNA and discussing improvements made on the delivery system in the last several years. Looking back over the suggestions made, we agree that the Introduction section can be developed more so that it's easier to follow.

The Applications section does require substantial work, especially since recent advancements in the delivery system have made certain applications more viable. Even so, three important applications have been introduced. SNALP applications to the Zaire Ebola Virus, Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cancer, and Tumors provide therapeutic pipelines for such treatments. In the future, students can improve upon this section specifically, improving the overall content of the article. We have also improved the article by creating an image displaying the structural components of a SNALP. We also believe that the addition of numerous references for additional reading and keywords has aided in enriching the article in general.

We would like to acknowledge our peer-reviews for pointing out minor flaws found throughout the article. We would also like to thank our Online Ambassador Klortho for his critique and help; specifically with communicating correct Wikipedia notation and also helping in the creation of our SNALP figure.