Are Northern Blots sensitive enough to detect siRNA-induced gene silencing?

Yes, Northern Blot Analysis has been shown in the literature to detect siRNA-induced reduction of specific mRNA. Whether a Northern Blot will be sensitive enough to detect a mRNA under investigation mainly depends on the expression level of the respective gene in the untreated control.

You can find an example for this application in the reference "Specific inhibition of gene expression by small double-stranded RNAs in invertebrate and vertebrate systems". Caplen et al., PNAS 2001, vol. 98, no. 17, pages 9742-9747.

We recommend to perform real-time RT-PCR for exact quantification of mRNA expression levels.