РНК-интерференция активно используется для решения различных исследовательских задач в биологии и медицине, в частности, для исследования функции генов. Один из распространенных подходов -нокдаун генов с помощью ма-лых интерферирующих РНК (siРНК). Однако единого протокола для этого метода не существует, и данные, получаемые при использовании различных его вариаций, часто обладают низкой воспроизводимостью. В работе обсуждаются теоретические основы указанного метода и приводятся практические рекомендации для постановки экспериментов по нокдауну генов с siРНК.Ключевые слова: РНК-интерференция, нокдаун, экспрессия генов siRNA-MEDIATED GENE SILENCING RNA-interference enjoys a wide range of applications in medical and biological research. In particular, it is used to study functions of genes. One of the most popular approaches to this task is gene knockdown by small interfering RNA (siRNA). Currently there is no unified protocol for this method, which results in low reproducibility of experimental data. In the following article we outline the theoretical bases for this method and provide practical recommendations for its use in siRNA-mediated gene silencing experiments.

Nowadays, the rapidly growing population, climate change, and environment pollution put heavy pressure on fresh water resources. The atmosphere is the immense worldwide and available water source. The Adsorptive Water Harvesting from the Atmosphere (AWHA) method is considered a promising alternative to desalination technologies for remote arid regions. The development of novel adsorbents with advanced water-adsorption properties is a prerequisite for practical realization of this method. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are a novel class of porous crystalline solids that bring a great potential for AWHA due to their extremely high specific surface area, porosity, and tailored adsorption properties. This work addresses MIL-160 as a water adsorbent for AWHA. The water-adsorption equilibrium of MIL-160 was studied by volumetric method, the isosteric heat of adsorption was calculated, and finally, the potential of MIL-160 for AWHA was evaluated for climatic conditions of the deserts of Saudi Arabia, Mongolia, the Sahara, Atacama, and Mojave as reference arid regions. MIL-160 was shown to ensure a maximum specific water productivity of 0.31–0.33 gH2O/gads per cycle. High fractions of water extracted (0.90–0.98) and collected (0.48–0.97) could be achieved at a regeneration temperature of 80 °C with natural cooling of the condenser by ambient air. The specific energy consumption for water production varied from 3.5 to 6.8 kJ/g, which is acceptable if solar heat is used to drive the desorption. The AWHA method employing MIL-160 is a promising way to achieve a fresh water supply in remote arid areas.

In this work, four radiators with different core geometries were tested using a wind tunnel. The values of the global heat transfer coefficient (UA = 5 ÷ 65 W/K) were measured depending on the flow of air and water. The obtained UA values correlate well with the data of sorption experiments described in the literature. The found correlations between the Nusselt and Reynolds numbers made it possible to propose an algorithm for ranging commercial air radiators for the use in adsorption heat transformers. It is shown that the use of a wind tunnel can serve as an effective tool for express assessment of the prospects of using air radiators for adsorption heat conversion without destroying radiators or their direct testing in a complex adsorption installation requiring vacuum maintenance.

The adsorption method for atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) is considered as a promising heat-driven technology for potable water supply in arid regions. This research is focused on novel composite sorbents based on hygroscopic salts loaded in the pores of MIL-101(Cr) developed for AWH. The composites based on LiCl, LiBr, CaCl 2 , and Ca(NO 3 ) 2 were synthesized and comprehensively studied by SEM, XRD, N 2 adsorption, and thermogravimetric methods. We evidence that the CaCl 2 /MIL-101(Cr) composite demonstrates a high net water uptake of 0.52-0.59 g_(H 2 O)/g_(composite) per cycle under conditions of Saudi Arabia and the Sahara desert as the reference regions with extra-dry climate, which exceeds the appropriate values for other adsorbents. It is shown that water adsorption on the composite cannot be presented as a combination of the adsorption on the components, thus indicating a synergistic effect. A detailed characterization of water coordination, mobility, and hydrogen bonding within the confined CaCl 2 hydrates and salt solution using solid-state 2 H NMR spectroscopy has been performed. It is established that pore confinement promotes a prolonged transition to a dynamically melted state of the hydrated salt and a notable decrease of the melting temperature, which facilitates the molecular transport of water and causes the alteration of sorption properties of CaCl 2 inside MIL-101 pores. Finally, the performance of AWH employing CaCl 2 /MIL-101(Cr) was evaluated in terms of the fractions of water extracted and collected, and the specific energy consumption, demonstrating its high potential for AWH.