RNA-induced transcriptional silencing

RNA-induced transcriptional silencing (RITS) is a form of RNA interference by which short RNA molecules - such as small interfering RNA (siRNA) - trigger the downregulation of transcription of a particular gene or genomic region. This is usually accomplished by posttranslational modification of histone tails (e.g. methylation of lysine 9 of histone H3) which target the genomic region for heterochromatin formation. The protein complex that binds to siRNAs and interacts with the methylated lysine 9 residue of histones H3 is the RITS complex.