Inhibition of Syk kinase expression

1. A method of inhibiting expression of Syk kinase in a patient comprising administering to said patient small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules that direct cleavage of a target Syk kinase mRNA sequence present in said patient thereby effecting said inhibition.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein said siRNA molecules are about 20–23 nucleotides in length.

3. The method according to claim 1 wherein said siRNA molecules are introduced directly into said patient.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein said siRNA molecules are produced intracellularly following introduction into said patient of a nucleotide sequence encoding said siRNA molecule.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein said siRNA molecules comprise two strands, and at least 1 strand of said siRNA molecules has a 3′ overhang of about 1 to about 6 nucleotides in length.

6. The method according to claim 5 wherein both strands of said siRNA molecules have 3′ overhangs of about 2 to 3 nucleotides in length.

7. The method according to claim 6 wherein said 3′ overhangs comprise uridines or thymidines.

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein said target sequence comprises a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of (SEQ ID NOS 1–22 & 28, respectively, in order of appearance (wherein said nucleotide sequence is presented as a cDNA)):

AATATGTGAAGCAGACATGGA,

AATCAAATCATACTCCTTCCC,

AAGAGAGTACTGTGTCATTCA,

AAGGAAAACCTCATCAGGGAA,

AATCATACTCCTTCCCAAAGC,

AATTTTGGAGGCCGTCCACAA,

AAGACTGGGCCCTTTGAGGAT,

AAGCAGACATGGAACCTGCAG,

AACTTCCAGGTTCCCATCCTG,

AAGCCTGGCCACAGAAAGTCC,

AAGCCCTACCCATGGACACAG,

AACCTGCAGGGTCAGGCTCTG,

AAGGGGTGCAGCCCAAGACTG,

AACTTGCACCCTGGGCTGCAG,

AAGTCCTCCCCTGCCCAAGGG,

AAGGCCCCCAGAGAGAAGCCC,

AATCTCAAGAATCAAATCATA,

AATGTTAATTTTGGAGGCCGT,

AATCCGTATGAGCCAGAACTT,

AATCGGCACACAGGGAAATGT,

AACCGGCAAGAGAGTACTGTG,

AAGGAGGTTTACCTGGACCGA,

and

AACCTCATCAGGGAATATCTG.

9. The method according to claim 1 wherein said patient is a human.

10. The method according to claim 9 wherein said human is a patient suffering from an inflammatory condition and said siRNA molecules are administered in an amount sufficient to effect treatment of said condition.

11. The method according to claim 10 wherein said inflammatory condition is a condition of the bronchi, lungs, eyes, bladder or skin of said patient.

12. The method according to claim 11 wherein said inflammatory condition is a condition of the bronchi or lungs and said siRNA molecules are introduced into bronchi or lung cells by inhalation.

13. The method according to claim 1 wherein said siRNA molecules are not present in a liposome.

14. The method according to claim 1 wherein said target sequence is a sequence unique to Syk kinase mRNA.