Patent ID: 7960357

Claim:
A method of activating the RNA-dependent protein kinase PKR by hybridization chain reaction (HCR), the method comprising: A method of activating the RNA-dependent protein kinase PKR by hybridization chain reaction (HCR), the method comprising: providing cells that comprise PKR and an initiator, wherein the initiator comprises a nucleic acid initiation region and first complementary region; contacting said cells with a first RNA hairpin monomer comprising: i) a first duplex region comprising second and third complementary stem regiong, wherein the second complementary region is substanstially complementary to the first complementary region of the initiator, ii) a first hairpin loop region at an end of the first duplen region, and iii) an initiator complement region that comprises a sticky end and that is substantially complementary to the initiation region of the initiator; contacting said cells with a second RNA hairpin monomer comprising: i) a second duplex region comprising fourth and fifth complementary stem regions, ii) a second sticky end region that is substantially complementary to the first hairpin loop region to the first monomer, and iii) a second hairpin loop region that is substantially complementary to the sticky end of the initiator complement region of the first monomer; wherein the first and second monomers hybridize in a chain reaction upon binding of the initiator to the first monomer, thereby forming a double-stranded RNA polymer that at least comprises the first and second monomers and that activates PKR.